


The Medic

by Kaygalaxy24



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempt at Humor, F/M, Female Protagonist, Fluff, Gabriel is a Softie, Hurt/Comfort, Reaper has conflicting feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-03-07 01:30:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 39,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13423842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaygalaxy24/pseuds/Kaygalaxy24
Summary: So, this is my first fanfic I'm posting, so here goes...It's about a Combat Medic that had an internship under Mercy/Overwatch and had a very strong "will they, won't they" relationship with Gabriel Reyes. After the fall of Overwatch, she is kidnapped by Talon and reunited with the man but is unaware he's alive as Reaper.Super nervous and excited to be posting this. There will be tons of flashbacks so I'm sorry in advance, I have a lot of fun writing them.





	1. Capture

Even as a combat medic you can't rescue everyone. It doesn't matter how highly trained you are. Sometimes you realize that you may have to do the opposite of saving lives. It was a dense existence. Medical science has been growing at a rate that was nearly impossible to keep up. She was doing her doing her damnedest to contribute.  
The girl was working on an injection that allows incredible restoration. It's the fastest on the market currently which has gotten her a lot more attention than she was hoping to get. It doesn't just heal scrapes and bruises. It can recover scars, all kinds of tissue and even on patients that have decaying flesh, gums, and the like. Alas, it is only temporary at the moment. She can't figure out what piece she was missing. It's become huge for cosmetic situations such has faster healing for skin graphs and the like.  
To enhance her serum is why she had come to meet with Dr. Angela. She's had a talent that was immeasurable; together they can figure this out. She'd kept the formula very hidden. She will be the first person to see it fully completed.  
To be honest, it's gotten her into trouble. People have wanted to steal her recipe and create their own for the black market. She would die before that happened. She's been protecting it for years like a mother bear to her cubs. Except her cubs are an injection that gave you invulnerability for an hour, plus.  
She has been taking many connecting flights to Switzerland to see the doctor. She travels alone and aside from military forces that are good at their job; she stays under the radar. They knew her work, but not her face. She has countless trusted assistants that keep in touch with hospitals for her. So far she made good judgments regarding her recruits. She hasn't had to put a cap in any of them yet, so she was pleased, to say the least.  
She was reuniting with Overwatch. Won't be the last time either. They wanted her back on the field, and Angela wanted to perfect her serum. She felt peculiar about a permanent version of the elixir, however. Some things should only be temporary. She'd known soldiers who had become addict to it. They feel they can play god on the battlefield. Even the great Jack Morrison wasn't immune. She remembers the first time they became part of a team in the field. She hit him with it, and the man acted like a machine. Hesitations gone. Recklessness up. Efficiency doubled. Even he craved the substance. Jack was also getting to the point of asking before injuries on the battlefront. Weaning him off wasn't pleasant. He was almost desperate for it. Having a man like that hang around you was intimidating.  
Getting off her last flight, she sighs. She hoped her work with Angela would be worth it. Following her GPS to her hotel and checks inside to unpack. She lays on her bed and stretches. Finally, no more planes. She would meet with Angela in the morning. Until then the girl wanted to do a bit of site seeing, now that she was back on the ground. The girl sighs again. Her jet lag was setting in.  
Night falls, and the girl returns to her room. She removes her coat and over shirt, just a black tank top underneath. In a fit of laziness, she just tosses them to the ground. The girl rolls her neck and stretches. She sits down on the couch and turns on the TV. Her alarm is on. She huffs. Her eyes begin to sag as she nods off to the sound of her sitcom.  
Uncertain to how much time has passed the girl wakes up with a chill. The room is now dark. The TV powered down and the lights out. She looks and notices her window is open just slightly. She holds her urge to gasp. The medic slides of the couch and crouches and inches toward the wall separating her desk from the living room which was near her bed where her weapons were kept under.  
'Shit...' she whispers. The girl removes a knife from her boot. She hears tacking and sees a soft glow. She assumes it was her laptop. The girl holds back her urge to laugh. She sneaks behind a girl typing away on the computer. She whispers to someone, most likely in a headset.  
  
"I'm not finding anything on this laptop. There is nothing about this serum anywhere."  
Quickly the medic places her knife to her throats and the other girl gasps. She hears the word 'Sombra' over the earpiece in a deep distorted voice.  
  
"You aren't going to find it. Sorry."  
  
"Shit." The woman utters in response to the knife put near her throat. She then snickers and vanishes. The medic clicks her tongue. Swiftly, she places her blade back in her boot then dives to her bag under her bed and pulls out a small sedation gun, quick and precise. The enemy girl was apparently a hacker. She couldn't find anything about the girl's medicine from her base. She had to reach out onto personal devices. Nothing here either. The medic crouches by the open window and takes a peek over; she was nowhere in her sight. She hears the faintest sound of tussling and wind blows her hair forward. She quickly looks over her shoulder her seeing a man dressed in leather and an oddly shaped, not human formed anyway, skull covering his face looming over her.  
  
"Fuck, you're huge." The medic says standing. The man still towers over her. She grows confused as the stranger seems to hesitate at first. Was he going to talk? The girl takes a step, glancing to plan an escape. To her dismay, the window was not quite open enough for her to slip through. She questions for a moment how the hacker got inside, to begin with. On second thought, both these people got into her room without even the use of a window… Teleportation, for sure. She turns her attention back to her supposed pursuer giving him an actual look over this time. Long cloak, all black, metallic claws for intimidation, ammo from head to toe. The medic's eyes catch that his hands appear to be shaking. First mission jitters? No, there was no way in hell this guy was a beginner. She tilts her head at this suspiciously. A thought keeps ringing in the medic's head for reasons she wasn't sure of. "Do I kn-"  
  
Abruptly, he goes to grab her, but the girl dances out of the way. The medic jumps on his back, and the man growls frustrated. She nearly slips off causing them both to stagger. Her opponent seemed to have enough strength in his neck alone to keep them up. A black mist appears all around them. She steadies herself next by wrapping her legs around his waist. The medic distracted for only a moment puts the gun to his throat. She couldn't see where they were. Engulfed in darkness.  
As the blackness fades she is someplace, she doesn't recognize. Still holding onto the kidnapper's back, he crashes to the deck. She lands on top of him with a gasp. Standing she searches for the exit. She sees the rooms are locked from the interior. She refused to turn on any lights for fear of waking her abductor. The home was fully furnished and looked well taken care of, a safe house? She scoffs, kneeling next to the unconscious man she beings patting him down. She couldn't tell if there was a key with all the... buckles... she rolls him over, with great effort, staring into the mask. She contemplates if she should kill him.  
Scanning the room repeatedly, no windows. Her sedation gun was empty, and the medic didn't have any ammo on her person. She reaches for her blade. Hesitation nearly paralyzes her. Something was telling her not to kill him, screaming it, in fact.  
  
"Come on, Nox... It's just one more sleeping sacrifice." She states reassuring herself. She peers into the mask. It was like staring into an abyss; naturally, she had to know if there was actually someone underneath. As she reaches out to reveal him, the man arouses. He became quickly aware of his situation and takes the girl's wrist hostage giving it a brutal squeeze.  
"Enjoying the pat-down were we?" She says covering her pained condition. The man sits up; she could feel the anger emulating from him. He lets out a low groan of irritation.  
  
"Talking won't help. Best shut up before you end up dead."  
  
"Dead? Then how would you find my serum?"  
  
"My part of the mission has been completed. Now sit and be quiet like a good girl." Just back up… He wasn't even supposed to get involved.  
  
"Good girl? Sorry, I don't think good girls get kidnapped by masked men." She mocks her wrist getting a tighter clasp. She flinches at the pain but laughs. Her response was quite refreshing for the man. She was much braver than past acquisitions obviously, unfortunately fortuitous.  
  
"You're a tough one, aren't you?" He bites out in a snarky tone.  
  
"What of it, prick?"  
  
"I think you'd be a fun toy." He sneers, apparently behind the mask.  
  
"Oh, yeah? Just so you know, I'm gently used with minor damages." The man in black sputters slightly trying to hold back a chuckle. The girl huffs with a grin still trying to pull away. He lets her go, and she puts her back to the wall. The masked kidnapper observes her reaching for something.  
  
"Don't bother, unless you want to spend your time unconscious."  
  
"Would you tuck me in at least?" She blows her bangs from her face.  
  
"You wield that mouth of yours like a weapon..." she swears she hears the smile in his voice. Customarily, this sort of behavior would drive the man wild. He didn't appreciate insubordination.  
  
"How long we in here?" She asks now leaning forward slightly as some of her long locks fall over her shoulder.  
  
"Not sure when extraction is. Mission got a little messy. Sombra was just supposed to be in and out" The girl scoots toward him slightly. Reaper was surprised by this. He sees her with what seemed to be a calm demeanor. Her eyes are full of interest, but of course, they are.  
  
"Yeah, sorry about that. I'm a bit of a wildcard. And a light sleeper. Don't know how many times that's saved my life." The man snorts as if amused. He studies the girl thoughtfully. He crouches looking her in her orbs. She blinks a few times but does not retract. It's as if he picked up a rambunctious puppy off the streets than an actual woman.  
  
"Are you not afraid?" He asks leaning into her more without recognizing it. A puppy with the gravitational pull of the sun.  
  
"Oh, no, I'm terrified. Just been trained to keep a level head." The medic rubs the back of her head. Nox has a small grin on her features her overall vibe felt epidemic. Somehow she gave off a feeling that everything was okay. He didn't know if things weren't okay, but what was it that she made him feel? Solace? He banishes the thought from his mind. He struggles to keep his composure. He sternly tells himself to get it together.  
  
"Interrogating you will be fun." His voice low and gravelly. Back to gloom and threats, Reaper... Focus. The girl stares up at him, and he notices the smallest shiver from her. He arches an eyebrow at this. That wasn't a shiver of dread…  
  
"Can we keep things pleasant while we wait?" She asks genuinely.  
  
"What?" He asked astounded. "You're a weird one." He attaches.  
  
"Normal doesn't get anyone anywhere. So, thank you." He just snorts again.  
  
"In a past life, we may have gotten along."  
  
"What should I call you?" The man stops for a long moment. He was getting too comfortable with the girl. Should he introduce himself? Could he?  
  
"Reaper." He said against his better judgment. The word regret just kept popping into his mind.  
  
"Appropriate." She replies solely. He scowled at that. She had some pleasantry. That brain of hers would be of enormous value to talon. He ponders if he could persuade her into joining plus, having soldiers practically immortal on the battlefield against Overwatch peaks his enthusiasm.  
"So, uh, you got a real name?" Nox inquires without any regard to consequences. A challenge did present itself, something she can possibly charm her way out of. It's been a while.  
  
"None of your business." He snaps, trying not to show alarm.  
  
"Okay. Fine, I get it. Thought I would ask. You remind me of someone."  
  
"Who?" He feels his chest tighten at the this. Did she..?  
  
"Kinda your personality and whatever, but like, your body height and build are very similar to..."


	2. Talon's Finest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can she figure out how to get out of this? Probably not, but her attitude on most situations is #yolo (I know, that's so outdated. How about madlad? I don't know...)

The door opens suddenly letting the cold in to nip at the two. A tall woman with azure skin is standing there. She was beautiful. The medic then has a realization… It was Lacroix… She had known from many records, but it was still a hard pill to swallow.  
  
"Time to go." Her accent French. Reaper stands, lifting the medic by her arm off the wood floor. With his immense strength, he drags her along, talons digging into her bare limbs. Despite this, the girl still felt the need to crack a joke.  
  
"So, uh, can you teleport too?" The woman just stares at her without a response. She then turns her back, her long ponytail whipping behind her. The medic scowls. "Alright, cool, I guess." Reaper tugs her more, and she halts in her tracks. "I'll walk. Why don't you calm down a bit?" Reaper stares down at her, and Nox can't get a read on him through his mask. He let his hand glide down her skin to hold her wrist but loosens his grip. The frigid bite of the gauntlets exacerbating her discomfort. The cold was clinging to her arms as her breath turned to mist between them. It seems to be apparent the masked goon wasn't bothered by the frost. Nox looks over her shoulder seeing the cozy looking safe house being tucked in these dingy, run-down apartments, clearly uninhabitable from an outside perspective.  
  
"Come on." He hisses with a much more gentle tug to let her know he was going to be moving again. "Oh, and you aren't going to get reactions from Widowmaker, best leave her alone." Why was he telling her this? He resists the urge to strangle himself at his own incompetence. He may as well roll out a god damn red carpet for the woman and give her a train for him to hold as she strode down it.  
  
"You don't have to tell me twice." She walks next to him letting a silence fall over them. She knew she was going to be interrogated. She knew they might hurt her. She knew these were dangerous people. Still, something about the gentle way Reaper pulled her along told her there was more to him than just a hardened mercenary with a leather fixation. She giggles at her own thought, and he glances her way.  
  
"What's so funny, girl?"  
  
"Specifically? You." She smiles up at him, and he just looks away  
  
"You must have some sort of death wish..."  
  
"You take your role pretty seriously, Reaper. Ever thought of acting?" He clutches her wrist mercilessly. "Ow, ow ow ow, okay, okay. I'll stop."  
  
"Good." He tosses the girl into her seat and goes to the other side of the ship. They take off as Sombra, Widow, watch her, Reaper behaving apathetic to his highest capabilities. The air seems to return to his lungs effortlessly now that he was out of the woman's orbit.  
  
"So that was pretty smooth of you. People don't normally sneak up on me." Something about the hacker didn't seem right. She studies the girl from head to toe. It wasn't just the hacker persona, there was something extra shifty about the purple-clad girl. Observations were her strong suit, but survival was her priority in this occurrence, she couldn't afford to begin calling people out when any of them can put a bullet in her head if they hear something they disagree with.  
  
"Call it talent, call it idiocy, it doesn't matter." She sighs. She glances over at the masked man again. She couldn't tell if he notices her looking or not.  
  
"You seem very comfortable being someone who has been kidnapped," Widow says to everyone's astonishment.  
  
"It's not the first time. Or the last, I'm sure."  
  
"And nobody has gotten this formula off of you?" She glares, but Sombra and Reaper notice the slightest glimmer of excitement in her eyes.  
  
"I have my ways. Listen, we could make this easy if you just let me go. You won't find it." Nox pleads with the agents as Sombra seems delighted by the challenge.  
  
"You haven't dealt with Talon before have you?" Sombra interjects assuredly.  
  
"Talon!?" She exclaims and beams in skepticism. "Didn't expect Talon to screw up a mission as small as this." All the Talon members seem to glance around fully aware they made some missteps.  
  
"Eh, listen chica, I'm new," Sombra says with a slight smile.  
  
"Well, I suppose I knew this day would come. You guys a pretty hospitable, though. I'm shocked."  
  
"You talk a lot..." Widowmaker remarks.  
  
"It's my nerves, sorry." She admits causally.  
  
"Can we gag her?" Widow asks looking around. Sombra shrugs and Widow goes to get tape and rope.  
  
"No," Reaper says suddenly striding over. "Be quiet, girl." He demands while leaning over her using the most menacing tone he could. The girl shivers again. Watching her tremble made his chest and stomach go warm for a brief second. He knew what that shiver indicated, and he was both thrilled and terrified of it.  
  
"Sir." She practically whispers a slight edge in her tone. Reaper felt his lips pull into a smile under his mask. He's overflowing with excitement to interrogate her. He knew she wouldn't be easy to crack. He knew she was bright. He knew that he quickly grew quite fond of his prisoner. They stare at each other for a while, and the medic sees a glimpse of his eyes behind the mask. They have a sharp, searing intensity. She shivers again. And wiggles in her seat. He finally pulls away, and the girl realizes she was holding her breath. More than ever he seemed like…  
She remains quiet for the rest of the excursion. She looks for any escape roots, but Reaper was by the door and Sombra guarding the pilots quarters. Widowmaker seems to never take her eyes off the girl. She could probably take Sombra out, but not before Reaper intervenes. She goes back to staring at the man. He did look very familiar. She wasn't sure if she could trust herself with this one. She wants to see his face.  
He sees the girl watching. It looks like she has given up on the escape. Now her eyes just seem to bore into him. He shifts under her gaze. Their conversations earlier came to mind. It could be anyone she's thinking of. They didn't interact too often while she was at Overwatch, he tells himself. Or more like lies to himself. Still, some of those interactions were quite…intense. They would usually catch each other gawking. He had to confess, he always felt a pull from her. It was no different now... he glances back, she looks inquisitive, he could see her trying to put the pieces together. He finally had to speak.  
"What're you looking at?" He snarls, and the girl just turns her head away. He catches her giving him one last glance before going back to examine the vessel. He knew that previous glimpse was out of defiance. A smile pulls at his lips again. She really wasn't afraid. Or maybe it was as she said... just pure idiocy.

The ship lands and they all get ready. Reaper approaches the medic. "Stand." He orders. She glances at Sombra and Widow who were busy preparing for landing and debriefings.  
  
"How did you get these powers? This isn't simple tech and a fog mechanism..."  
  
"None of your business. Do you really think you are in the position to ask questions?" She stares hard at him. She completely ignores his asseveration.  
  
"Is it painful? That black mist that keeps raising off of you?"  
  
"Not usually." He replies after the shock of her seemingly concerned tone wore off.  
  
"So, sometimes it does. Reaper-"  
  
"Enough." He bites out. "Stand." The girl still wearing a look of wary, not for herself, but for him, stands. Reaper then grabs a rope and ties the girls arms behind her back.  
  
"Oh, so now you suddenly need to tie me up."  
  
"Yeah, it pleases the higher-ups."  
  
"Didn't take you for rule follower."  
  
"They like it when you're gagged too." He adds with an annoyed tone.  
  
"Point taken." She replies as the man pushes her forward, tenderly. She walks as he guides her. Suddenly he stops.  
  
"One more thing," he remarks. Pulling out a thick, black cloth he wraps it around the medic's eyes. The girl stumbles back bumping against his chest. She doesn't move as the man ties the blindfold. Reaper stiffened a bit at the closeness but didn't step away. In fact, as he fastens the blindfold he tugs her back more. Her whole body now pressed against his. He feels the girl shaking, and a warmth builds in his chest. Sombra and Widowmaker were way ahead doing the debriefing. Reaper waits for them to ask to bring the girl into the containment cell.  
  
"Are we here?" She requests feeling relief as the cold was melting away from her being.  
  
"Almost, don't move." He replies as he fixes her hair around the blindfold. He feels her lean back slightly, relaxing. She even smelled the same… her clothes have a lingering of incense, and the girl's scent always reminded him of hazelnut and coffee. The times they spent together, and the many times he's seen her, she always had coffee, she probably bled the stuff. Part of his gauntlet grazes her neck ever so slightly, and she does a sharp intake of breath, jolt. "Cold..." she whimpers. Reaper takes a deep inhalation and pushes the girl forward. Her arms still bond he gave himself the smallest bit of excess rope to keep her from escaping. To be honest, he didn't mind the sight of her like this. He guides her to a chair and pushes her into the seat. She gasps as she falls down with a thud  
  
"You could at least say timber or some shit."  
She hears the man snickering. The girl sighs at this. "I don't like this. I can't see, and I can't touch anything."  
  
"That's kinda the point. Maybe you aren't as smart as I took you for."  
  
"Nice one, but me liking something and knowing the point of something are two entirely different things."  
  
"Hush."  
  
"No." She says, and the man rolls his eyes behind his mask. "Talking to you makes me know I'm not alone."  
  
"I was only supposed to bring you here... I'm leaving."  
  
"Can't you stay?" The girl asks catching the man off guard. "I mean, you don't want to leave your prisoner unattended, right?"  
  
"We have cameras to keep an eye on you."  
  
"But I..." she hangs her head slightly. "Fine." She huffs hanging her head and slumps forward in her chair. Reaper shifts awkwardly as the girl emits a melancholy Reaper wasn't prepared for. Just say no, Reaper, he tells himself. He's denied hundred of captives displaying stock holmes syndrome in the past. His history with the girl wouldn't stop tugging at the back of his mind. She isn't the average prisoner, she wasn't clinging to her subduer, it was muscle memory. Even if her brain didn't know it was him, her body did. Don't break, Reaper, he demands of himself.  
  
"I'll check on you." He grumbles softly. He was happy the woman was blindfolded, or she would have witnessed him abstain from failing in pure rage. Oh, how he wished he could die. He puts his palm to the mask regaining his wits.  
  
"That'll do. Promise?" She says a smile now on her face. Reaper scowls not sure if he was just played or not. Why did it have to be her?  
  
"I don't make promises." He replies exciting the cell.


	3. Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This will hopefully be the shortest chapter.

The medic sighs isolated. She felt the anxiousness inside her start to raise. These situations never got more pleasant. She liked a distraction from the fear of what they might do to her. She's always managed to escape in the past, but this was Talon... she didn't know how she would fair this time. The darkness keeps setting in as if it was covering the inside of her eyes and she would blink it away. She pulls her knees up to her chest and rests her head against it. Her arms still behind her back. She grumbles in discomfort. She couldn't tell how slow or fast time was going.  
She hears the door open. She sits up letting her legs fall back to the floor.  
  
"Reaper?" She asks trying not to sound too enthusiastic.  
  
"Yeah..." she hears the gruff voice reply, and she couldn't help, but feel calmer. Reaper hovers watching the girl. She fidgets as if feeling awkward. "So, uh, do you need anything?" He asks explicitly not wanting to be there.  
  
"Actually I'm really thirsty." She declares. Reaper mumbles to himself.  
  
"I'll be back." He growls as she hears the door open and closes again. The girl smiles to herself. She was glad he came back. The door clicks once more, and she listens as footsteps reapproach. Reaper holds a cup as he stares at her bond arms.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"I brought water."  
  
"Can you untie me?" She asks with a smirk.  
  
"Do you think I'm stupid?" He bites back. She shrugs as a response he decides to ignore her reply. Reaper reaches out his hand and puts a fingertip on the girl's chin lifting it up. He puts the cup to her mouth. She realizes what he is doing, and she opens her lips so he can pour it back. She drinks a little bit spilling out the side of her entrance. Reaper felt his whole body heat up at the sight of her. He notices her face begins to get pink tinged as she swallows her last bit of water. Reaper pulls the cup away and runs his thumb over her lips wiping away the water that spilled out. The girl shivers again. He was beginning to like making her do that. "Better?" He breathes slowly. The girl opens her mouth to speak, but for once, seems left inarticulate. Time passes between the two and the girl squirms.  
  
"Thank you..." she mutters her face red under the blindfold. Reaper feels himself smirk. Another moment passes as ticking from a clock is the only sound between them.  
  
"Why do you work for Overwatch?" He asks inadvertently.  
  
"I don't agree with them enough to join... I've been close a few times, but they generally do have the best interest of people and omnics alike." She explains. She fidgets. It was clear she was uncomfortable holding a conversation without the freedom to move or see. "I've been working with them before the fall even... things are so different now. Blackwatch fell apart and took Overwatch with it. No Blackwatch now though."  
  
"You didn't approve of the Blackwatch agents?" A pointed question.  
  
"Not at all... I remember…" She pauses for a moment. How long had it been since she said that name out loud? "…Reyes looked like he was becoming less and less happy. I wasn't sure exactly what was happening. Too afraid to find out." She pauses, and Reaper flinches at the sound of his own name. "I never got to speak to him about it, but I saw him going down a dark path. I wish that I had... maybe I could have helped him." She remembered the hatred in his eyes after they held a private funeral for Ana…  
  
"There was nothing to help. Blackwatch worked in the shadows giving them the perfect way to betray Overwatch. You wouldn't have been able to do anything." He felt himself grow tense and immediately regretted speaking. His chest pounds as he realizes that he blurted that out faster than he could think. The girl was silent for a long while. Her silence made him apprehensive, did he give himself away?  
  
"You're probably right..." she crosses her legs. "Still, I just felt Reyes was so isolated after what happened with everything. I think he needed someone."  
Reaper was still, moments passing, he didn't need anyone. He was cast out by Overwatch to do its dirty work, and he did a damn good job. The countless hours, the sleepless nights. His blood boiled. Jack was no better than him. Reaper got a bad taste in his mouth but knew he couldn't say anything more.  
  
"It's actually one of my biggest regrets." She suddenly says bringing his attention back.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I actually really liked Reyes from the times I spent with him." She semi mumbles. "I miss him." She said this exceptionally quiet. He notices the pink tinge on her face again. Reaper feels his chest tighten and he breathes out harshly  
  
"I have to go." He grumbles rubbing the back of his neck.  
  
"Are you still in front of me?" She asks as she stands.  
  
"Yeah." He replies softly. She places her head on his heart, and he stiffens. She let the melody of his heartbeat soothe her. Her mind was swimming as she tried to grasp an understanding of what she was doing. At times she feels her body isn't her's something possessing her to be close to this man before her.  
  
"You remind me of him. Is it okay if I stay like this for a second?" Reaper remains silent but doesn't move. He lifts his hands not sure what to do. That part of his life was over and has been for a long time. Gabriel was dead. Still, this girl brought back all the memories. They had an unspoken temptation, and he couldn't bring himself to talk her either. A relationship would have deterred from his plans. He needed 100% focus... No different than now. He finally places his hands on her shoulders pulling her away softly.  
  
"I'm going." He says feeling conflicted. She sits in defeat. He exits the room deciding it best not to go back.

Hours pass as the girl waited for Reaper to return. She knew Overwatch would be looking for her by now. They hadn't brought her in for questioning yet. She suspected it would be any second since Overwatch would be on their tail soon.  
As if on cue the door opens. She can't see and doesn't bother to ask.  
  
"Ready, chica?" Sombra asks rather cheerfully. The medic shrugs. She's been tortured before. She could always find a way to not physically be harmed. She felt this time she might not be able to talk her way out of it. Especially when it came to Reaper or even worse, Widow. That woman couldn't feel a thing, no emotions to manipulate.  
Sombra grabs her by the sides helping her stand. Sombra guides her not knowing what to expect. Once into a new room, Sombra makes the girl sit. The blindfold finally comes off, and the medic hisses at the brightness. She glances up, there was another room for them to watch from and one door to exit from. Typical interrogation room. Sombra smiles smug, she was first up.  
  
"So, I've done a lot of research on you." She states. "Not much aside from your career comes up."  
  
"That's the only noteworthy thing about me." She replies. "Sorry, my wiki page must be pretty empty." The girl laughs, and Sombra smiles at this.  
  
"Why so secretive?"  
  
"Why? I think this is a perfect example."  
  
"There are no records of your serum in hospitals or anything."  
  
"It's an object that is made to win wars. It shouldn't be mass produced."  
  
"Even Overwatch doesn't have it on file."  
  
"You hacked into Overwatch? That's pretty impressive." The medic praises and Sombra takes the compliment graciously.  
  
"I am the best of the best." She grins. "Which is why I want to pick your brain." She starts. "You have hardly any computer files."  
  
"Tech is so advanced that I almost never use it. I don't want to be tracked. You saw how unimpressive my laptop was." Sombra laughs at this. They go back and forth for a while. Sombra made it pretty clear she didn't care about her job anymore and was just enjoying chatting with the girl. After a while, the two were just giggling together. Reaper watching from the room grew furious.  
  
"Sombra!" The medic hears from Sombra's earpiece. Sombra smiles, and so does she while waving goodbye.  
  
"Good luck, Chica." She says exiting.


	4. Plan B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fun times writing stuff like this. I'm not sure what to say on these lol. I will say that I've struggled with how I want Overwatch characters to behave because they are supposed to be up to our own interpretations of how we think they act. Still, there is so little lore and so many hints to who knows what I'm always overthinking how they should act.

A moment passes. The girl sits merely happy she could see again. She hears Reaper and Sombra bickering in what seemed to be Spanish. The medic was surprised by this. She knew Sombra could speak it, but Reaper too? Now the masked man enters the room. She swallows slightly. Mentally she prepared herself for pain.  
  
"Hola." The medic grins. Reaper felt a twinge of frustration at the fact that she heard him.  
  
"Listen carefully." He starts. "You know where this is going to go... just tell us."  
  
"No." She spat. "Why haven't you just got one of your scientist to recreate it?"  
  
"They can't." Reaper hisses.  
  
"Talon can't find talent?" She remarks with a snarky tone.  
  
"No, we have talent. I'm sure you've heard of her..."  
  
"Hmm... a talented medic/scientist that would work for Talon? A name does come to mind."  
  
"Not that it matters. We can let you off easy."  
  
"There is an easy way with you?" She replies with a giggle. Reaper growls in annoyance. He stares into her eyes. They sparkled with a bravery that he couldn't help, but respect. Still, for once he wished she would just back down.  
  
"None of us would be disappointed if you joined up." He states. The girl stares up at him as if a bit shocked. It wears off quickly.  
  
"No." She says leaning forward. This time a glare was on her features. A serious one. "Not a chance." He leans back. He smiles again; her fire got him going. He stands next. She eyes him with care. He notices that Sombra didn't strap her down This only excites him more. She still couldn't escape. The girl gets up the chair hitting the floor.  
Widow raises from her seat watching this. Sombra watches with a smirk. She had left her unstrapped on purpose.  
  
"He's fine..." she waves her hand and Widow sits. "He wants this, can't you tell?" She faces her earpiece to Widow to hear Reaper laughing lowly.  
She backs against a wall and Reaper approaches. He finds this odd. Her face tells him she was ready to fight, her body was reacting on its own? He studies her carefully and notices how the ropes looked terribly loose around her arms. He tilts his head at this. She was quite the escape artist. She was trying to hide them behind her back.  
He puts his hands on either side of her on the wall. He looks down at her.  
  
"Jesus, you're large..." she mutters with a smirk as she meets his eyes. Again she stares into the mask seeing the smallest glimmer in the man's orbs.  
  
"I'll offer this to you one more time. Take the easy way out." He murmurs. She grins at him for his high and mighty act.  
  
"Not really fond of working with Moria."  
  
"You can work alone." He touches her face with a claw. She resists the touch, but barely. She did want his affections, despite her mind screaming at her to be disgusted by the man before her.  
  
"I kindly refuse." She spat. The man laughs again.  
  
"Fine. We can do the hard way." He grabs her face, hard. The gauntlets talons are digging in. She felt them beginning to pierce her skin. She quickly pushes him away. The ropes hit the floor. The girl pulls her knife. She swings only to phase through the man. He grabs her arm twisting behind her. The blade clatters to the ground. Nox struggles against his grip, she was trying every maneuver she could think of to break free. This proves to be incredibly difficult when the man could disperse into literal smoke.  
  
"She's armed." Widow calls to Sombra who was looking at her nails.  
  
"He's fine, Widow. He patted her down; he knew she had it. He's just messing with her. Leave him."  
Widow looks back. She didn't care about Reaper. She had a thirst to put a bullet between the girl's eyes. Worthy prey.  
  
"Talk or I break it," Reaper mutters into the girl's ear. "You have options…"  
  
"Fuck you." She growls back. He bends it more and hears it begin to crackle. She holds in her scream with just a sharp intake of breath. He stops. She exhales. He kicks her leg, and she hits the ground Her knees ache instantly.  
  
"You sure?" Smug.  
  
"As sure as I can be..." smugness returned. Reaper begins to bend her arm again. "Fuck..." the girl groans, nails clawing against the concrete. He was honestly impressed with her pain tolerance.  
  
"So why isn't he cutting off fingers like usual?" Widow asks. Sombra glances up.  
  
"They told us in the beginning that if we take away limbs or digits, the healing process will take too long for her to start working on the formula." She sighs feet on the table. "Plus, I think they've taken an interest in her joining more than anything. Might do some brainwashing."  
  
"They need to do it quick. Overwatch is most likely sniffing around." Widow remarks watching as Reaper finally snaps the girl's arm.  
  
"I would love her to join the team. We need more people with humor around here."  
The girl grinds her teeth refusing to scream as Reaper shoves her face into the cold ground.  
  
"Nothing?" He breathes, not surprised, but something else.  
  
"Try again." She says the smirk evident in her voice. Reaper sits on top of the girl holding her head down. He knew the higher ups wouldn't be too happy with him breaking an arm. Could reduce her production. He regrets it a little bit even. Something was beginning making him feel sick. The girl below him was panting heavily, he could feel her trembling. He knew they weren't watching only Widow and Sombra. Damn CEO types don't get their hands dirty or have the stomach for violence. Doomfist may lead them in a military sense, but the ones with the money call shots like these. He had been passing along messages between the two all morning. He will likely hold off Overwatch with the others once they inevitably show their faces.  
  
"Tell me what's so special about this injection?"  
  
"You already know..." she bites back. "I'm not going to talk about it."  
  
"We have truth serum you know." He says getting comfortable on the girl. She continues panting erratically due to the pain she was feeling.  
  
"Immune." She responds. "I've given myself small doses for years to build up an immunity." Reaper makes a small "hm." As if impressed.  
  
"You really don't want people to know. Why?"  
  
"Are you an idiot? Think about it for a second, will you?" He does just that. He didn't need the injection. He didn't care about it. He was already immortal as it were. He could see the outgrowths, but all he really cared about was getting rid of Overwatch agents, namely Jack Morrison.  
  
"Don't care." He replies after a moment. He picks up the girls knife and lifts her shirt slightly. She felt the cold blade run along her back. He begins to carve something. The girl yelps and clenches her fist. He glances over and sees blood starting to ooze between her fingertips.  
"Scream, girl." He says darkly. Digging a little deeper using her as a human sketch pad. "You'll feel better." The girl panting takes a moment to try and pull herself from under him. He was much too heavy with only one arm.  
  
"You know..." she breathes. "What you're doing is actually a new way people get tattoos. It's called scarring or some shit." Reaper ignores her and keeps going. She groans in pain again. "Kids, right?" She was trying to laugh. Reaper digs in a little more going back over where he began. The girl was getting closer and closer to screaming. Every fiber of his being was shaking. She was so close. After he finishes, he stabs her once. Keeping it shallow. She shrieks her back arching under him.  
It didn't feel right... he goes to puncture the girl again but stops. He got her. If he kept going she would sing... but...  
"Reaper...please..." she mumbles her face buried in her arm.  
  
"Will you talk?" He asks almost sounding desperate. He stares at her back as blood trickles down her sides, pooling under her. Her skin looked soft.  
  
"I know you're just doing your job..." she begins. "But I'll die before I talk. There are no records. Nothing. It will live and die with me." Her tone was genuine. He halts.  
  
"So there really is no way?" He questions.  
  
"None. If you try and brainwash me, I'll kill myself." She says in a seriousness that makes the man feel cautious. The games were finished. "Please...." he gets up. He felt himself come down from the adrenaline... the girl struggles but manages to sit up. She turns to him. They stare each other down. "Get it?" She asks, and the man nods. She scoots forward and presses her head against his chest. Reaper looks down at her bewildered.  
  
"You're fucking crazy..." he whispers to her.  
  
"You've been a dick..." she mumbles. "Despite that, I still like you for some reason..."  
Reaper felt himself sigh out of relief. He turns off his earpiece he crushes it in his hand.  
  
"I don't understand you..." Then again, he never did. After moments of faltering, he strokes her hair back into place.  
  
"I don't either." She smiles up at him. "You said before in another life we might get along. I agree." Reaper sits in silence not sure what to do. The girl seems to drift off. He holds her up. He sees her blood pooling around her. His chest constricts. He doesn't recall the last time he felt this guilty.  
The door opens, and Sombra enters. Reaper picks up the girl.  
  
"It's not going to work, huh?"  
  
"She's probably trained herself to resist torture."  
  
"I think there might be another way." She says smirking at him. He ignores her and takes her into the room. Sombra sets down a towel for the girl. Reaper then lays her down gingerly. Doomfist arrives. Reaper feels a slight wave of panic. Was Overwatch here to take her back? Or did he just see what occurred?  
  
"You took it easy on her, Reaper." He states.  
  
"They said not to hurt her too much." Was all he could manage. He was relieved that this was, in fact, the truth. Still, somehow it felt like he was lying. ‘taking it easy' wasn't something he really did with interrogations. Ever.  
  
"She's tougher than she looks" the man adds as he steps over to her. Reaper immediately felt protective, but let it go. "They were watching knowing you weren't going to be as rough as normal." He explains looking everyone over then back to Reaper. "They notice she's quite fond of you." Doomfist states as Sombra steps next to him grinning.  
  
"Are you implying...?" Reaper beings giving the medic a glimpse. "No." He continues resolutely.  
  
"Don't worry, it'll be easy," Sombra adds with Doomfist agreeing. Even he couldn't hold back his sneer.  
  
"What will we do with Overwatch?" Widow interrupts to Reapers relief. Doomfist rolls his neck.  
  
"We are working on false leads to lure them to an area as far from HQ as possible." He looks back at Reaper. "And you, take the girl here." He hands him coordinance. "Tell her Overwatch is looking for her and that you need to hide her here for the time being." Reaper's whole body shakes with frustration. Sombra hands him a medical kit.  
  
"Patch her up. That'll be a good start." She was entirely amused. Even Widow seems entertained at the idea of him trying to seduce the girl for answers.  
  
"These are orders, Reaper." He adds to the man's dismay. "Take her there now." Reaper lifts the girl holding the map with his destination. He scoffs as he vanishes from their sight.  
He arrives in a single story house in what appears to be the middle of nowhere. He sets the girl down and lifts her shirt again to bandage her. His thoughts were to rush to cover up her wounds. He was expecting to be able to break her and have her recruited... Not drag her to a safe house to force answers out of her by... interesting... tactics. In his many years as a black ops agent and career as a soldier, he's never had to seduce an enemy, not on orders anyway. He rolls his eyes at the situation. This never would have happened if it weren't for Sombra. The girl stirs awake. She sees herself in a new place she doesn't recognize.  
  
"Fuck..." the girl moans sitting up. She felt like she had been hit by a truck. She turns seeing Reaper there, and she nearly jumps out of her skin. He was holding back a snicker. She looks down seeing the bandages in his hand. "Did you clean the wound first?" She asks, and he stares at her. "I'll take that as a no." She snatches the bandages from him. She slides the medical kit toward herself. She pulls out swabs and rubbing alcohol. "Have you had training in basic medical treatment?"  
  
"It's been a while." He complains. She raises a judging eyebrow at him. He glares back. She couldn't see the glare, but she certainly felt it.  
  
"Why are you even doing this?" She asks.  
  
"I..." he turns his head away.  
  
"Never mind." She says wetting a cloth with rubbing alcohol and pressing it against her wounds. She stands to look for the nearest bathroom. She takes the kit with her.  
  
"She is crazy." He mumbles to himself at the fact that she already made herself at home.


	5. Goodnight?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've rewritten this quite a few times now. I usually get ahead of myself and want to jump around a ton when I write. So, this whole thing has been a struggle. This will also explain all the flashbacks I'm going to litter throughout this fic lol.

"Why are we here? Or is that a hard question too?" She asks venom in her tone. He grumbles standing.  
  
"Overwatch is looking for you." He states walking into the bathroom after her. The girl had removed her top. A bit stunned he looks elsewhere. He notices that she wasn't making a big deal out of it.  
  
"The Blackwatch symbol?" She asks. She stares at it with sadness in her eyes. "I like it." She adds. He felt his heart pounding. He hadn't seen a woman like this in a while. And the fact that it was her... he had pictured it in the past. Seeing the real thing didn't disappoint.  
She approaches, and he feels his body tense. She hands him the bandages. "It's going to scar." She says as if pleased. "Why Blackwatch?" She questions.  
  
"We were talking about them last." He replies as casually as possible. She steps a bit closer trying to look into his eyes. He backs away. He could tell she was suspicious. He was hoping to bandage it before she saw. He was growing ever frustrated with his lack of restraint over his impulses around her. It was like he was practically inviting her to discover who he really was. Then again, if she had chosen to join Talon, would he tell her? How would that affect things?  
  
"I'm going to need your help after all. I need you to clean it a bit more and bandage me up. I'm kinda handicapped." She pauses. "Oh, but you knew that." She adds bitterly. The girl goes to lay on her stomach. The cold white tile clings to her torso. She shudders doing her best to relax. Part of her was worried leaving her medical care in the hands of a violent mercenary. She decides to play it by ear since he was displaying uncharacterized altruistic behavior.  
  
"Shut up." He grumbles. He snatches the cloth from her.  
  
"Oh, and the stab wound, I need you to stitch it up." This made him nervous. He begins to clean her wound rubbing the cloth against her skin. A chill runs up her spine. Between the gauntlets and the slate, she was threatened to be turned into an icicle "Take the claws off, please." She grumbles. He complains but does as she says. He washes his hands first and goes back to clean her wounds. He notices small amounts of dirt in them picking them out carefully. His free hand rest on her back steadying her. He sees a tattoo on her shoulder with writing in a language he didn't understand minus very few words.  
  
"What language is that?" He asks.  
  
"I forget." She hums. "It was a quote from my father's funeral, I got it after drinking myself stupid one night."  
  
"Ah…" he says not sure whether to laugh or apologize.  
  
"Don't worry about it." She adds as he goes to thread the needle.  
After stitching her up her breathing steadies. Reaper takes a moment to run his hands along her back. Her skin is soft and smooth. He had hoped to have this opportunity one day.  
  
"Reaper...?" She calls. He stops, noticing what he was doing. She sits up, her cheeks a rosy shade of pink. She reaches out grasping his hands. "All the color is gone from your skin..." he lets her look, mist escapes every so often as she examines him. "This was Moria, wasn't it?" He retracts his hands.  
  
"It wasn't her." He retorts. "She gave me these powers... and I... I died." Typically that wouldn't be a hard statement for the man to make, hell, he even cracked jokes about it in the past. Still, he wondered how she reacted to his death. He was hesitant in hearing her response. Some people feel the dead should stay dead, this was something he never got an opinion on during their conversations. Whoops.  
  
"She's been rewriting genetic code, that could be a side effect. You can't die?" She asks leaning closer.  
  
"My body seems to decompose as fast as it regenerates..." he looks at his own hands now. "I don't fully understand it." She examines him inquisitive.  
  
"So you can teleport and phase through things... and heal."  
  
"Moria can do these things to a much smaller effect. We both can steal ‘life force,' is how she put it." Of course, she never died.  
  
"How does that work?"  
Reaper beings to bandage the girl as they speak. The closeness making him warm. Her scent was almost intoxicating.  
  
"It's vampiric."  
  
"You drain it from others?" She clarifies. He hums as a yes. "So is that why you cover up so much? It's not just a leather fetish?"  
  
"What?" He growls looking the girl in the eyes. She grins at him.  
  
"Yeah, thought you'd like that s&m nonsense." She pauses feigning an apologetic expression. "I mean, bondage to a degree is okay." She continues to tease.  
  
"You fucking idiot." He says pinching her cheeks as she giggles. She falls back, him following her, Nox's body is small under his. Reaper's cloak alone could support a tent for the girl.  
"What is going on in that head of yours?" Her laughing halts as she winces in pain. She smiles looking up at him.  
  
"Forgot about the stitches already." She chuckles. He releases the girl's face and stares down at her. Her hair flared out underneath her. Her skin exposed. He reached out touching her face and trailing it down her neck and along her collarbone. The girl trembles below him, making the smallest gasp.  
They were right, this should be easy. He should be able to get her to tell him anything… Even less of a reason for him to have hurt her the way he did. Still, for once, he wasn't feeling too confident if his mission.  
  
"I'm sorry." He says suddenly. The girl gives him a slightly surprised look.  
  
"For doing your job?" She responds. "I already forgave you back there. You got a bit excited for my taste though."  
  
"Interrogations are kinda my specialty."  
  
"Would you want to do it again?"  
  
"Not to you. There wouldn't be a point." He states bluntly. He looks at her expression and how she seemed to show the slightest bit of dissatisfaction with his rebuttal. He knew what she was searching for. The girl moves from under him, and now it was his turn to feel disappointed.  
  
"So, Overwatch is looking for me. Jack must be furious." She grumbles slightly.  
  
"Why would that be?" He asks with his interest peaked and his distaste for her calling Soldier 76 by his first name.  
  
"Well, it's kinda a long story, but I was on the field with him for a while. Mercy couldn't be there, so I was relied on for healing. Jack got injured a few times, and I gave him the injection." She pauses as if recollecting everything, pulling her knees to her chest. "He liked what it did to him, and thus, he tried to get, well, more familiar." Reaper folds his arms in disapproval. "The injection gives you this high and sorta a god complex, and he liked the efficiency. After a while, he did whatever he could to get it from me." Reaper was surprised to hear this. Jack usually was highly resistant to things like an addiction... however, if it did make him a better soldier he could see the allure. The girl didn't continue, but he knew she was leaving things out. The woman yawns. Reaper goes back to bandaging her as she stretches intentionally making it hard for him to do his job. In the kit, he pulls pain medicine.  
  
"Here." He hands them to her goes to get her water. He returns, and the girl is already nodding off. He goes to kneel in front of her giving her a gentle shake.  
  
"Hm. What Reyes…?" she mumbles as he shakes her awake. He was taken aback by this. She rubs her eyes and sees Reaper. "Sorry, I didn't mean to call you that." She says turning red. He felt a bit panicked. How long until she figures it out? Or admits to knowing?  
  
"Take the pills, I brought you water." She puts both pills in and takes the water. She puts it down quick. She hasn't had a drink since last time. The girl sets the water down and immediately starts to doze off again. He grabs a sling out of the kit and puts that on her as well. She wakes back up, but only temporary. Reaper sighs and lifts the girl. Her eyes flutter open again. She wasn't kidding about being a light sleeper. She looks up at him and rests her head against him. He quickly finds the bedroom laying her down carefully. She sits up. The girl takes in the room. She was pleased seeing a connecting bathroom and a nice sized dresser. There was only a single night stand with a standard looking lamp by the king-sized bed. She did perceive that this appeared to be the only bedroom. She pondered on whether she should even suggest sharing the bed.  
  
"I need a shirt to sleep in." She tells him.  
  
"I know..." he growls at her. She just smiles sleepily at him as he goes through the dresser. There were long button downs that would probably fit him. He throws one at her, and it hits her face covering it entirely. She gets out of bed. She welcomes the feel of the carpet between her toes.  
  
"I kinda need your help with something else." She says sheepishly. He looks at her realizing. He needed to help her finish undressing... his whole body heats up at the notion. Lucky she was able to kick off her boots.  
  
"You can't sleep like that?" He grumbles.  
  
"I could, but not well..."  
  
"Then goodnight." He retorts turning to walk away.  
  
"Please, I've been in these clothes for over 24 hours..." his eyes dart all over her as she stood there in all seriousness. He swallows slightly and walks back up to her.  
  
"What first?" He asks reluctantly.  
  
"Jeans." She states with a sly smile. He goes to reach for her belt, and she steps back suddenly. "I can do the belt with one arm." She says struggling to do so.  
  
"Move." He bites out doing it for her. He tugs her forward and tosses her belt to the ground. Next, he unbuttons her jeans. He takes a deep breath as subtly as he could. He unzips them. There was a peek of red lace under. He beings peeling them off. His heart beating hard.  
  
"This is your fault you know." She says to him. As she's leaned back on the bed. The medic knew well what she was doing, she could have changed on her own, but teasing the mercenary is just too much fun. She lifts her legs making it easier for him to pull off. He swallows.  
  
"How much do to intend to punish me for this? You said you forgave me didn't you." He complains trying not to look at the girl's nearly naked body. "You're not embarrassed by this at all?" He asks as the girl stands. She turns her back to him pulling her hair in front of her.  
  
"Should I be?" She asks glancing back at him. He takes a moment to look her over. He didn't like that she felt so comfortable around him. He hugs her back to him by her hips, running his hands all over sides and torso. His fingertips grazing the top part of her panties. She shivers again. He loved making her do that.  
  
"I'm still a man after all." He replies lowly into the girl's ear. He snaps her bra strap, and she moves away. Her face bright red. She sits on the bed covering herself with the comforter. "You said you wanted to be comfortable, right?" He teases getting her back from earlier. He sits in front of her wrapping his arms around her unclasping her bra with ease. The redness on her face spread to her ears.  
  
"I'm fine, goodnight!" She exclaims.  
  
"Don't like having the tables turned on you, eh?" He laughs gruffly. She shrugs her bra off under the comforter. Reaper waits patiently holding the shirt captive. "Stand, girl." He demands. She shakes her head. She curls up under the covers.  
  
"I'm fine, thank you." She replies. He places the shirt on the bed for her, unbuttoned.  
  
"You can button with one hand. If you can get it on." He laughs at her as she glares. "I'll help you get dressed in the morning." He states with the most snarky tone he could manage.  
  
"You planned that didn't you?!" She shouts the man turns to shrug at her both his hands in the air trying to seem as innocent as possible, despite the skull mask. Her eyes still wide, but now with another realization. She keeps quiet about it as the man leaves. "Jerk!" She calls as the door closes behind him. Reaper smiles to himself. This might be one of his favorite missions so far.  


Reaper decides to retire to the couch. Everything in his body wants him to crawl into with the medic, but his head wouldn't allow it. He tried to determine if this would be considered insubordination on his part. He recalls fighting with himself on being with Nox from almost the moment he met her. There was always going to be something tense about having a romantic relationship with another soldier, on top of all the other problems normal relations bring. His name was Reaper, for Christ's sake, he's supposed to be killing things, not trying to woo some alchemist.  
He isn't feeling like Reaper, more like Gabriel Reyes. He scowls deeply at this. That chapter of his life was closed. He could just kill her. Say she tried to kill him and he retaliated. The thought of actually killing her made the man sick to his stomach, however. Grabbing a shotgun, he leaves the couch and phases back into the Medic's room. She was fast asleep. Damn captive is sleeping better than him. He raises the gun to her head, careful to make as little noise as possible.  
  
"Come on, Reaper..." He reassures himself softly. "Just another blood stain out of the hundreds." The girl lets out a small sigh before rolling over. She crinkles her nose as if disgruntled about something. As Nox steadies back into her new sleeping position Reaper breathes again. His shotgun feels as if someone put a 500-pound weight on it. He lowers it frustrated. Dispersing into smoke, he finds his way back to the couch.


	6. Yogurt and Memory Lane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, this was going to be a shorter chapter, but then I was granted with the gift of inspiration and it's probably going to be one of the longest. Wonder what the beeping was? :O
> 
> ~~~

Nox stirs awake as her mouth is dry, she swallows to rid herself of the sensation to no avail. The girl crawls out of bed checking the time, it was promptly past three am. She is also hit by the fact that she was starving. The girl rubs her tummy with grief. Did she dare go out there to see if there was food? Yes, yes she did. She opens the door, and to her delight and surprise, it didn't creak. Her feet meet with the cold wood floor shaking the last bit of drowsiness away. She pads her way over to the kitchen. Glancing she sees Reaper on the couch, fully clothed, legs hanging off the arm. She listens carefully, and his breathing seems to indicate he was indeed sleeping.  
The woman holds in her urge to giggle at the man. Assuming he's the kind of person to sleep with one eye open, she puts caution into each step. She decides to examine the fridge first. She sees that it was entirely stocked and everything was to date. She grabs a yogurt deciding it would suffice until morning. The girl then searches for a spoon. She opens a drawer revealing many knives, and realizes she didn't have hers.  
Setting her yogurt down she goes to examine the man. He had her knife last. Staring at him she was still full of wonder. Moria must have experimented on him, but why? Moria was a radically progressive woman... Science was the only answer, and human emotion could be tossed aside as far as she was concerned. Nox found it admirable to an extent, but only when it came to her personal feelings. You heal to help those around you. You create to better the lives of others. Still, Moria probably did think it was for the best.  
The girl decides to let the man sleep as she returns to her snack. She slides another drawer open finding the proper silverware. Opening cupboards she grabs a cup to get water. She decides to get water once she's back into the bedroom to avoid waking Reaper. She flips her hair over her shoulder in triumph. She hasn't lost her touch with stealth after all.  
As the girl tiptoes back to her dwellings, she is startled by sudden beeping sounding through the house. The quick three chirps were more than enough to rise the mercenary. The girl was suddenly tackled to the ground. She grunts in pain. Her glass shatters and her yogurt slides to the other side of the room.  
  
"Hey, I'm not trying to escape, pro-!" Nox's pleading is cut off by his hand wrapping around her throat.  
  
"I'm finally going to finish this." He growls darkly. She notices faintly as if there was a red glow coming from within the mask. Attempting to knock his hand away he was easily overpowering her. "This is how it should have been." He adds, and the girl has a realization. He's still dreaming? Her vision blurs in and out while her panic raises. She gasps for air as she manages to pull a hand away.  
  
"Listen, hey," Nox reaches up touching the man's chest. "It's me..." She says comfortingly. "I'm not going to hurt you." She sees the man beginning to comprehend his surroundings. They both stay panting for a moment as the air seems to clear. He places a hand to his temple as if still disoriented. Nox empathizing reaches up to embrace the man. "You're fine."  
  
"I-" He starts as the woman hushes him.  
  
"I get it." She whispers rubbing his back. Reaper couldn't help, but find this situation familiar. He exhales calming her nerves. Was it strange that he felt safe with her? "I won't steal yogurt again, okay?" She adds trying to lighten the mood with some success. He wraps his arms around her his body practically swallowing her up. An idea flashes through his mind comparing the woman to a human-sized stress ball. He teleports the girl back into her bed.  
Clearly still dizzy he holds onto her until she seems composed.  
  
"I'll clean up the glass. Get some rest." He states as the girl just watches him. He couldn't look at her entirely.  
  
"Can I have my yogurt?" She asks lightly. "And a drink?" The girl snorts suddenly.  
  
"What?" He snaps.  
  
"Just," She pauses to snicker more. Reaper lets out an impatient breath. "Sorry, can I just call you my water boy?"  
  
"You can if you wanna die." He retorts as the girl just giggles more. Demanding was right...

Morning arrives, and the medic wakes up with a stretch. She walks out of the room peeking for Reaper. With the man in black nowhere to be found she explores. Most doors are locked from the inside, go figure. She notices a basement. This was open. It leads to a lab with all sorts of medical equipment and chemicals. The whole room was pure white, par for the course. She looks around for the resources she needs. She sighs realizing that if she uses any of this, she might give herself away. Instead, the girl goes back upstairs to shower. She sighs at the fact that she left her cell phone in her hotel room...  
As much fun as she had with Reaper she wanted to go home. She wants to make one thing clear though. Was he Reyes? He can speak Spanish, same height and build, the voice was throwing her off a bit. But last night she saw him do that shrug which Reyes did all the time.  
  
"I need to know." She mutters to herself as she melts under the warmth of the water. She hears a knock on her door. "What?" She asks.  
  
"I brought you a change of clothes..." he calls annoyed through the door. He figured he'd do something kind after nearly choking the woman to death. He still has 'episodes,' but usually, he was alone and when he came to it was just his bunk and belongings that suffered the damages.  
  
"Oh, good. Hey, I'm gonna need your help again." She replies over the water.  
  
"I know." He bites back as if he were unhappy. She begins to turn the water off.  
  
"Maybe you can me dry off too." She says with a giggle holding her towel against her. She thinks of last night's rub down and immediately decides to backpedal. "Kidding!" She calls as she then goes to dry her face off.  
  
"Maybe lock the door." He replies with a smirk. Her face goes red again seeing him there. She couldn't tell where his eyes were. He walks up to his boots splashing in the puddle around her. "Well?" He asks smugly. She gazes at him, biting her lip. She wanted to, badly. If one thing leads to another...Then another thought came to her mind. He might take the mask off...  
  
"S-sure." She stammers. Reaper turns his head away for a moment. The last thing he was expecting was for her to agree. He grabs the towel and wipes her off. He starts at her shoulder and around her arms. He works his way down her chest he uses both arms to get her sides, and he carefully rubs her breast with it. They were so soft, and he did his best not to linger too long. She did gasp a bit once he touched them. His heart thrashing against his rib cage and his whole body hot. The steam in the room wasn't helping. He gets down to her hips, and he can see everything. She still had the faintest scent of hazelnut and freshly brewed coffee… She was completely vulnerable to him. He drys her hips and as he works his way down one leg, she trembles. He was about to lose it.  
  
"Are you cold?" He asks her breathily. She shakes her head unable to form words. Reaper brings the towel back up from her legs he very briefly let his hands glide over a certain spot. The only thing between them is that towel. She gasps again. Her hair was dripping all over her. He quickly dries her chest again. The girls breathing became a little uneven. "Turn around." The man says, and she obeys. The only sound was little splashes of her feet. He dries her back now messaging her a bit. She lets out a small sound of approval. Next, he works his way down her back lower and lower. He was drinking up every second. He notices the Blackwatch symbol. He had wish she had joined. He would have fought Jack to make her his agent. This should have happened years ago. He imagines being able to fuck her in the shower, in her bunk, in his office. His mind was entranced entirely in the idea of being with her. They both paid so much attention to one another. They would read files, ask agents questions about each other. They would be in the same room so many times and not do anything but glance at one another with the occasional smile. There were moments where they had the chance to bring the barriers they put up, down. There were moments where things wanted so desperately to tip. Neither of them let it happen, fought it, in fact. What was holding them back?  
  
"This is driving me crazy." He says scooping the girl up. At this point, the medic had forgotten any plans she had made. He lays her down on the bed. He gets on top of her begins touching every inch of her. She lifts her pelvis letting her privates graze his. The man immediately responds by undoing his pants. He feels her hand touch his mask. He pulls away. "Don't." He huffs as he pulls out his member. She squirms under him.  
  
"I want to kiss you." She says, and he felt his heart skip a beat. He pulls out a black cloth. He caresses her face. She seems to disapprove but lets him put it on her. Everything goes black, but she hears something heavy clatter to the ground. Suddenly lips crashed against hers. It felt like a fire ignited in the girl's chest. Everything about his touch, his kiss, felt right. She wraps her arm around his back. She groans under him. She begins removing his coat as he helps shrug it off. Her hands find his shirt as she does she starts to pull it off. They both reluctantly break the kiss the get his shirt over his head. The girl was aching for him. Close didn't seem close enough. She runs her hands over his cold skin. She wanted to see him...  
  
"Reaper..." she moans quietly. She grinds against him, begging. Reaper laughs breaking their kiss. He trails kisses along her body. He goes teasing her as he gives her clit a few slow licks. He then nips her thigh. The girl moans. "Please." She breathes. Reaper goes back to kissing the girl, and the girl wraps her legs around his waist. She begins to claws at his back. He finally enters the girl. She was incredibly wet. He grins at this as he starts to ease into a rhythm with her. She felt better than he imagined. He pulls her hips forcing himself deeper and the girl groans. Her breathing heavier. There was a moment when he nearly forgot about her arm and other injuries. He takes it a little more gingerly with her, and the girl sighs.  
  
"Your arm." He mutters to her as she's clinging to his back.  
  
"Don't care." She breathes. Her mouth finds her way to his neck as she nips at it. He shutters slightly as she leaves a mark on his neck. He picks up the pace for her, and she holds onto him despite her pain. The girl could easily ignore the hurt with this moment. He feels her tighten around him. He let out a low groan, and the girl shivers at the sound. She kisses his cheek finding her way back to his mouth. Her face tickled slightly by, to her delight, his beard. His grip on the girl grew stronger as he felt her getting closer. She moans against his kiss, and the man was conflicted. He wanted this moment to last, but he also was eager to please her. Her breathing and moans grew more wild and loud. He decides to slow down. The medic huffs and lets out a whine. Not breaking the kiss he snickers at her. To his shock, the girl forces him to roll over onto his back. She places herself back onto of him. She smirks down at him and goes back in to kiss him, nearly missing his lips. Her pace was fast, and now he felt the tension build. Quickly he flips her back over taking control. He pins her arms and deprives her of more kisses from him. He slows way down waiting for the tension to subside a bit. He sighs. She was getting to the point where each scrap sent shivers up her whole body. She clenches her fist and whines at him.  
  
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" He purrs as she tries to push herself into him more. She pants not able to see the man. She growls in frustration. He slows down, even more, giving her a slower thrust back in still hitting her sweet spot.  
  
"I can't take this..." she pants. He chuckles at her.  
  
"Take what?" He couldn't hide the taunting tone.  
  
"Jesus Christ, Reaper." She groans. He leans forward kissing her neck leaving little hickeys all over her neck and collarbone. He gives her another pump.  
  
"What do you want?" He adds. The girl squirms.  
  
"Want? I need you. Please. I need you, Reaper." She begs, giving the man what he wanted. He picks up his pace embracing the girl. She kisses him aggressively, her tongue slipping into his mouth. She arches her back as she moans kissing him still. Her nails drag against his shoulders and down his back. Everything felt so good, so right. The girl pulls away from his lips as she finally cums. Watching her sent him closer to the edge than ever. His rhythm becomes slightly irregular as he finishes soon after.  
Reaper stares at the girl as she's fast asleep, literally. He rests his head on her chest for a while. He hasn't felt this good in a long while. He drifts off recalling his days back in Overwatch and his encounters with the girl.

The first time she ever showed up at the Swiss HQ she didn't seem to have a desire to talk to anyone, but Angela. She was interning under the woman after finishing school. The two had a lot in common being child prodigies when it came to medical science. The girl had her creation and wanted to perfect it, and Overwatch had everything she needed. They tried to force the girl to join then and there, but Mercy wouldn't allow it.  
The first time he saw her, there was a definite fire about her. He didn't know what her background was yet, but you could tell she had one.  
A few months pass, and he finally had to ask someone about her. So he went to Jack.  
  
"Combat medic, code name, Nox, working on an injection that can turn the tide of war in a heartbeat." He says with poise. "Angela is against her joining our forces, but I want to see if we can convince her."  
  
"You got her file?" Reyes asks as Morrison gives him a smirk.  
  
"Yeah, I'll send it to you." He begins. "I've noticed you eyeing her. She's cute, right?" He says explicitly off the record. The man shrugs with a matching smirk now.  
  
"Real cute." He replies and leaves the room. He gets the medics file sent to him almost instantly. The email read 'happy hunting.' Reyes laughs to himself at this.  
She was an incredibly intelligent woman who lost her parents just before her graduating high school. The girl immediately dove into military training and field medic work. She excelled in hand to hand and worked to improve her aim that is her biggest weakness. She was most highly trained as a close quarter assassin due to having a knack for quick thinking and charm. There was a lot of room to get her on the same level as Ana Amari. However, her skill in being able to heal others would give her an edge that missions only had when both Ana and Angela were on the field. Overwatch had taken notice of her instantly and didn't want to let this opportunity pass.  
Her work ethic was almost obsessive as she didn't seem to possess much of a social life outside of it. This is believed to be because of her losing her parents. Her classmates claimed that the girl never showed any clear sign of mourning aside from working to be the top in her class claiming valedictorian.  
Next, the man goes to Ana.  
  
"Yes, Gabriel, I've had her shadow with me. She has much promise." The woman explains with seeming pride.  
  
"Will she be sitting in on mission briefings?" He asks her. The woman nods sipping her tea.  
  
"You know, she's asked about you," Ana adds. This peaks his interest. "Something about how you looked tough to spar against." She tells him with a smile appearing on her face. He had to admit their paths crossed a lot and despite noticing each other often. Hardly any words had been exchanged.  
  
"I'll keep that in mind." He replies.  
Another month had passed, and they finally were apart of the same briefing. Ana and Angela stand to her left, and he stands to her right. The glances that darted around as if expecting something from the two.  
  
"Commander Reyes." He states holding his hand out. She shakes his hand. "Not that you didn't already know." He adds with a small smile.  
  
"I'm Amantea... Eva Amantea." Looking up at the man towering over her. Her handshake and soft smile told him more than the greeting itself. "Even though you already know." She mimics him with a grin. Pulling his hand away it felt as though it was incomplete like her hand belonged there. He felt almost intimidated by the attraction he felt. It was such a strong connection that he felt wary. He rubs the back of his neck, and he sees Jack giving him the most apparent smug side eye he'd ever seen.  
After a few more briefings he caught onto the girl had quite the sense of humor. She got along well with Ana as they both had a bit of a dark sense of humor. He would find himself chuckling at her jokes especially when they upset Jack. The look of happiness she had when he laughed at her wit was adorable to him. He finally decided maybe to start up a conversation with her after the briefing. Jack dismisses everyone to get ready for the mission and asks Reyes to remain.  
  
"What, Jack?" He says impatiently.  
  
"I have a request." He beings and Reyes waves his hand in notion for the man to speed it up. "Eva seems to be very curious about you, and I want to give her a more detailed version of your file."  
  
"Why?" He said not really minding.  
  
"The more her interest in you grows, the sooner she may agree to join." Reyes just nods feeling pretty happy at the news of her interest in him.  
  
"Alright, Jack, just make sure if she does, you send her Blackwatch's way." He retorts smugly.  
  
"Not a chance." Jacks exclaims as the man exits the room.  
A year had nearly passed, and the girl's internship was coming to an end soon. There were many missed opportunities. The desire never left the two to talk, and it seemed that their glances and minimal interactions conveyed quite a bit.  
  
"Why don't you just talk to her?" McCree asks standing in his office. Gabriel glares up at the ceiling.  
  
"Got too much work to do. She'll get in the way of my plans." He explains as McCree disapproves.  
  
"Well, I hope whatever you're scheming will make you happier than she will." He responds.  
  
"What I don't know won't hurt me." He replies looking the cowboy in the eyes.  
  
"You've barely spoken to the gal, and we can all already tell you got it bad. That's something special, boss." He objects. It's not that he didn't have intentions… he just wanted to fix himself first, not that anybody seemed to understand that. He just couldn't bring it up. Even if the desire was there.  
  
"Dismissed, McCree."


	7. No Distractions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Been distracted as of late but still want to post... I've actually been rethinking a lot of things and I can't help but add more story as my mind runs kinda wild lol. I foresee this story becoming a monster of text...

Reaper wakes up seeing the girl still fast asleep. He sighs in relief. He phases from the bed to his mask as to not wake the girl. He begins getting dressed. The girl wakes up soon after he's dress.

"Reaper..." she mutters rubbing her eyes. The blindfold around her neck. The man stares at her and feels a lightness he hasn't felt in so long. She gets out of bed. He could tell her arm hurt, but she made no mention.

"We need to get you a cast." He says. The girl nods in agreement. She walks across the room and hugs him with her healthy arm. He holds the girl, squeezing her. She pulls away after a long while.

"Can you help bandage me up again?" She asks as the man accepts. Both of them shocked that none of her wounds reopened. He goes back to the bathroom and gets a new roll. As he goes about wrapping her up, he couldn't help, but touch her a little bit more sensually than before. Next, he assists dressing the girl. "I found the lab downstairs." She begins. "I didn't find any escape roots, so be calm." She adds with a smile. "But I can walk you through putting the cast on." The man rolls his eyes at the statement she made but follows her to the lab. His phone buzzes. It was a message from Doomfist. 'How are things coming along?' The message said. He replies with a quick 'fine.' As they enter the lab.

The girl gives him very detailed instruction as she did what she could to set up having him help her. With the cast finally on she studies it. She smiles slightly.

"You gonna sign it?" She asks holding her arm up. Reaper snickers.

"Sure thing, sweetheart." He replies as the girls face lit up.

"Help me find a sharpie." She says leaving the room. He follows her and shakes his head.

"Have you eaten, Girl?" He inquires.

"No, now that you mention it." She says rubbing her hair which was also a mess. Reaper points to the kitchen table.

"Sit." He commands.

"But I need your autograph." She objects and Reaper just scoff another smile tugging at his lips. "It's not every day you meet an infamous terrorist." She continues. The word 'extremist' pops into his head, but he didn't have the energy to have that debate with such a fiery woman

"I'm still going to sign it, Eva." He says with a slight sigh. Her eyes were shocked. Seeing her expression, he feels himself panic. Now you've gone and done it.

"That's the first time you've said my name." She comments. "Most people don't know it." She adds.

"Most people call you by your field name." He responds with a feigned easygoing tone. She doesn't appear to notice.

"Sombra's good at her job." She says casually. Despite the instant relief, he scowls a bit at the mention of her. He was frustrated by her shenanigans. Still, he couldn't be too mad at her since it got him here. The man leaves the room and returns with a brush. Her hair was long, and there was a lot. He sits there and levels himself with the tangled mayhem.

"Just be careful." She comments. "I have a low pain tolerance when it comes to my scalp." She states. Reaper found it humorous. She could handle a broken arm better than a brush to her head. He holds the part closest to her scalp tight so it doesn't hurt as much when he pulls the brush through her mane. Her hair becomes smooth and soft as her combs through it. She gets a chill.

"Am I hurting you?" He asks. The girl laughs.

"No, I just get chills when people touch my hair sometimes. You're a natural, actually." The man finally detangles the woman's locks and is somehow triumphed. He sets the brush down and goes back into the kitchen.

"Why haven't you made your injection to heal yourself?" He asks as he places a pan on the stove. She rests her chin in her hand.

"I feel that's pretty obvious." She retorts. "Everything in that lab is brand new. I'm not touching a thing."

"Can't say I expected less." He says washing his hands. He grabs a bunch of ingredients out of the fridge. The girl sighs resting her head on the table. She watched the mans back. It was funny to see a man posing as death cook in the kitchen. She smiles slightly. Was this really happening?

The girl ponders a moment. Everything she felt, the draw, the electricity, she didn't think she could have another connection like that with another person. The girl has never cried over death. Not her parents, not Jack's, even though it was fake, not Ana's. All they did was make her work harder to uphold the morals they wanted to protect. She would dive into her work, training, helping people wherever she could. When she hears that Reyes had died, she kept it together... until she got home after the ceremony. She had never cried so hard. Plus the weight of his death opened the floodgate of her parents, Jack, and Ana. Especially it being a fall out between the two best friends that led to their deaths.

With Jack and Ana being alive and well, however... she felt hope. Watching his back, she knew. It was Reyes. Especially after their morning exchange. How could she make him slip? She recalls her internship at the Overwatch base.

"It's clear that you like him," Angela says to the Younger Eva. The girl shrugs.

"Yeah, and I like that the sun rises every morning. You don't see me asking it out, now do you?" She retorts and Mercy gives a worried smile. Eva leans on her desk looking through the glass toward the agents scurrying through the base.

"It's unhealthy, you don't have much of a social life. This could be good for you." The medic rolls her eyes resting her chin in her hands.

"Doc, health is all I know. Not being in a relationship won't hurt my psyche. Seeing men with limbs blown off will." She explains dully. "And well, you haven't mentioned much about that have you?" She adds with a grin.

"I know, but you have been working so hard..."

"Is this because you want me to go on double dates with you and Genji?" She replies with a smirk. Angela blushes.

"Genji and I aren't like that."

"Yet. You're on a slippery slope, Angela. You seem a bit too desperate to save him." She comments as Angela turns a deep red putting her hand elegantly to her chest the way she does with everything. She never expected to be working with a classic Disney style princess.

"Once my injection is ready we won't need to save or lose so many." She says the determination burning in her eyes.

"It will be cutting edge. Where did the idea come from?" Angela asks.

"My parents died in a war. Dad was shot in the chest, and the bullet grazed his heart. They couldn't stop the bleeding in time." She pauses as Mercy gazed, sympathetic. "Mama was caught in a blast... she would have survived if her leg hadn't got caught. She managed to get her leg free, but she couldn't escape the enemy from there." At that moment she sees Reyes walking by with McCree. Their eyes met. His eyes burned with a determination as well. She didn't know why, but she hoped it wasn't more trouble. "I worry about him." She says as Angela notices Gabriel now.

"Just talk to him. You might be able to figure out what's going on in that head of his." Angela encourages. The girl laughs at this.

"Oh, I'd find out more than that." She forces herself to look away from Gabriel. "Still, he'd be a distraction. I can't afford that. Saving his life..." she pauses and sighs. "Doesn't outweigh all the other lives I can save once this project is finished." The last thing the girl wanted was to become so enamored with the man that she lost focus on what was important. It was a risk she wasn't willing to take. Nox was already accustomed to the fact that ideals rarely play out. Sacrifices were always needed.

McCree came rushing over to the Medic as she was studying her notes that Mercy gave her. They were going to be a huge help in her progression, she would need to revise it quite a bit, but the pieces seem to be coming together.

"Eva!" McCree calls as the woman was deep in thought.

"Busy, Jesse." She snaps back

"I need your help though." He responds, and the woman rolls her eyes. Nox finally looks at him with indignation.

"You can't ask someone else?" She huffs as he shakes his head. He smirks suddenly knowing full well that she wouldn't turn him down.

"I need help with the Boss. It will only take a second. Mercy isn't even here right now." He pleads, and the girl just sighs again.

"What is it?" She groans hiding the fact that she had gotten her full attention.

"Genji and I are trying to steal his hat." He states, and the girl just stares a bit dumbfounded.

"For?" She questions while McCree just grins.

"Fun, that's what for." He explains. "The boss doesn't think we can get the drop on him." He adds for good measure. The girl glances around as if annoyed beyond belief, but she knew that she would have a blast going along with them. She stands from her chair.

"Okay, I can come up with a plan." She states setting her notes down. "Well, make this quick though." She adds and the Cowboy tips his hat in agreeance. Meeting up with Genji they devise a quick scenario and set up with their plan. The barracks for the Blackwatch crew tend to remain pretty empty aside from the Blackwatch agents, which were few, and the occasional visit from Jack or Ana. Sometimes deadly quiet McCree and Genji didn't find the silence soothing most days.

The trio sees Reyes coming around the corner not aware of their presence yet.

"Distract him, Jesse," Eva tells the man as her and Genji climb the wall above. She gives him an inquisitive gaze. He notices this and seems to grow wary under her stare. "I trust you not to drop me." She whispers and the cyborg nods. She gives him a reassuring smile. Nox turns on her earpiece. "Ready for the code word, Jesse." She states with a grin. Laying the ninja and Medic wait for McCree's signal. The girl prays that the cowboy's slight of hand was good enough.

"Hey, boss, how's it goin'?" McCree asks walking up to his commander.

"Fine, what are you up to?" Gabriel replies almost immediately suspicious. Eva puts a palm to her face at this.

"You know, I've just been thinkin' that we haven't had an outing in a while." He explains now walking side by side with the man. Eva seems to catch a glimpse of what looks like guilt in Gabriel's expression.

"I've been swamped lately." He begins pinching the bridge of his nose. "I will try and find the time." He says next as McCree seemed to genuinely appreciate the notion.

"That would be just dandy. Genji keeps talkin' about these 'Sake bombs' that he likes so much." Eva nods at Genji as he lowers the girl down. McCree places his hand up as Eva snatches the beanie from the Commander's head. Jesse then sets his hand behind his back. Gabriel was in the middle of starting a sentence when he feels this.

"McCree..." He growls in annoyance. Going to reach behind the man's back the cowboy sprints forward. "Bastard!" Gabriel shouts giving chase. In the process of their game of cat and mouse, Jesse loses his hat as well. Eva and Genji snicker as they sit on the platform above. Eva puts the beanie on with a triumphant grin.

The end of the night had rolled around while Eva still had Commander Reyes' beanie captive. She couldn't wipe the smug smirk off her face despite how hard she tried. The medic was ready to turn in, but not before returning the hat, undetected of course, or that was the plan. She was sneaking her way over to his office making sure to check her surrounding every so often. It was late, so she felt she should be fine. Her last double expresso was making the girl a tad jittery, focusing was also proving to be a challenge.

As Nox approaches Gabriel's office, she notices the light spilling out from the door cracks. She goes to turn around thinking the man was up probably working overtime, per usual. Still, it was awfully late, even by Eva's standards. The woman listens to gauge if she can hear the man working, typing, anything, but the area was dead silent. As she turns away, she is startled by a figure pinning her to the wall. Looking up she meets with smug brown eyes.

"Christ, Reyes..." She breathes a smiling now gracing her features. Resting her hands on his chest, she sighs once more letting out a small laugh. The closeness was making her warm.

"Didn't think sneaking up on you would be so easy." He taunts removing the beanie from her head. Strands of Eva's hair float outward due to the static. Reyes likes the way the girl looks so small compared to him like he could just swallow her up. This was the closest Eva had been to the man thus far.

"Didn't think stealing from you would be so easy." She replies with a smirk.

"Hey, I haven't slept in a few days." He combats with a crooked grin. Eva sees the circles under his eyes feeling bad for him, but she doesn't let it show.

"I can tell." She cups his face to his surprise. "You've got some pretty intense bags, my friend." She adds beaming at him. Reyes felt himself impulsively gripping her wrists as she touched him.

"Were you wearing my hat around all day?" He questions with a huff. The girl nods with an impish smile. "People might start to talk," Gabriel adds searching for her reaction. She lost the playful vibe for a moment as she speaks.

"Let them." His stomach twisted into a knot as her smile shifts into a warm gaze. He shouldn't be feeling like this, he wasn't a teenage boy... He presses his forehead against her taking in her beautiful eyes.

"Thanks for spending time with my idiots." He states sleepily as the girl giggles.

"No problem," She has her arms resting on his shoulders. She felt the tension they carried. The medic slides her hands down and begins massaging his neck and shoulders. Reyes lets out a sigh resting his head on her tiny frame.

"They get restless when I'm not barking orders at them," Gabriel explains while feeling the girl pleasantly kneed into him. He places his hand on her hips relaxing. The tired feeling was growing more intense by the second.

"I can keep them entertained for a while, just invite me to your next outing." She replies a soothing tone in her voice. He hums a yes, and the girl pulls away. Standing up straight again, he was disappointed. "Need me to tuck you in?" She adds, and he felt himself blush slightly at the notion. Giving her a playful glare he notices the twinkle in her eye.

"Not tonight, but I could use an extended massage while I finish this last bit of paperwork." He groans playfully tugging the girl toward his office a bit, his hands still on her hips.

"Of course, Commander."

Eva was now in for her routine training with Ana.

"You know Gabriel is signing off on making our weapons that we can help us heal while in the mix," Ana says knowing the mention of the man would get her to listen.

"So I won't have to stay at my post anymore?"

"Exactly."

"I'm not much of a sniper. I'm better with pistols, to be honest." She explains.

"He knows." Ana smiles. The two share tea before training starts. Eva felt her face flush at his consideration. "Still not enough to get you to speak to him, huh?" She says disappointedly. Ana knew Gabriel was doing something suspicious. She wanted him to find happiness, so maybe he would let go of whatever reason he had to be so secretive.

"He does seem to have something going on. He seems distressed about something." She says as Ana leans forward, hopeful. "Still, he is one man."

"A powerful man, Eva." Ana states carefully. "Remember, he went through the SEP. He's saved countless lives."

"Fine. As soon as my project is done, I will speak with Reyes I need to focus now." She retorts. "I don't want any distractions." This of course wasn't mentioning all the previous 'distractions' she found herself getting caught up in knowing that if she shared them with others that they would only push the two together more.

"You're a stubborn one. You know it's okay to have a life outside of work, right?" Ana says with a chuckle. The girl smirks at this.

"I tried stand-up once, you know." She says with a laugh.

"Did your jokes about war go over well?" The second in command chuckles.

"I think the only soldier in the room laughed and that was it..." she says with a grin.

"That's rich." She sighs. "Listen, Eva, you're a special girl, and whether you join Overwatch or not, you have a home here." She says.

"I know. I'm very grateful to you all."

"Good, now, I request that you do look out for your commanders. Especially Reyes." Eva nods in response. She sips her tea "As soon as your project is done, do yourself a favor and get laid." She says as the girl gasps while still sipping her tea. She coughs her face bright red. Ana laughs at the girl as she takes a deep breath, wiping her mouth.

"He could talk to me you know. I don't like all this pressure." Ana smirks.

"Gabriel is a confident man, but when it comes to someone like you, even he can hesitate." She says with a shrug. "It's okay for a woman to make the first move," Ana explains with a wink.

"Okay, okay, enough distraction." The girl says standing. Her thoughts were now filled with images of her and Reyes. She shakes her head and pinches her cheeks. "No distractions."


	8. Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh... I guess, I haven't been keeping up with this like I should but it's been hard to concentrate. I just went through a break up with my boyfriend of 5 years... So writing romance and stuff doesn't feel the best, but I'm committed to seeing this through. So, sorry, if things come out a bit more slowly.
> 
> Anyway, chapter finally gets Reaper out of the safehouse for a bit. Oh, and I know there has been swearing before but uh, this has a lot more than normal. For reasons.
> 
> ~~~

The girl is brought back to reality when a plate is set in front of her. It smells astounding.  
  
"What is this?" She asks. The man sits a coffee down next.  
  
"Sweet potato chorizo hash and eggs." He describes. Waiting patiently.  
  
"Is it spicy?" She asks.  
  
"Not really." Was his answer. She gives him a suspicious glance but digs in. After a moment she hums.  
  
"It's good... it is spicy though." She says taking a sip of her coffee.  
  
"You pussy." He chuckles. She takes offense at this.  
  
"I'm not used to spicy food..."  
  
"That's gonna have to change. You need to build up a tolerance." He taunts. She continues eating despite this.  
  
"Didn't take you for a cook." She comments.  
  
"What of it?" He says sounding a bit prideful.  
  
"Once my arm is better I will make you seafood Alfredo." She says chowing down. "It's kinda my specialty." She pauses to gulp her coffee. "And by specialty, I mean the only dish I know how to cook." Reaper couldn't tell if the girl was merely ravenous or if she genuinely likes his cooking. He was hoping the ladder.  
  
The man just laughs. His phone buzzes again, and he begrudgingly pulls it from his pocket. This time from Sombra. 'We need backup.' Reaper stands, his chair abruptly skidding against the wood floor.  
  
"I have to go." He says suddenly to the girl's shock. Before the girl could object, he vanishes.  
  
"Fuck..." she hisses.

  


Reaper on the battlefield now sees there was indeed Overwatch overpowering them. He sees Jack leading the charge, Angela backing him. He sees Widow lining up a shot for Mercy. Reaper also sees Reinhardt in the thick of it. He appears behind the man shooting him in the back. He drops to a knee his shield dropping. Genji comes into view, and he takes another shot at him. The man deflects the bullet, and he phases through it. He sighs as to how close that was. He lines up another shot for Genji's head. Suddenly his body was pushed back. He notices Lucio had blasted him away. Now all three surrounded him. He sees Sombra behind them. He makes a subtle nod, and she releases her EMP. The man activates his death blossom as all the men go down. Lucio seemed to save them from any fatal injuries, but they were out of the fight. Sombra wobbles as she faints. That was the last bit of strength she had. He grabs the girl and teleports her toWidow. He could see the woman grow frustrated trying to line her shot with Doomfist knocking Soldier 76 and Mercy around. As he appears back into the fray with Doomfist, Jack sees him.  
  
"Was wondering when you would show up." The man pants. Reaper cracks his neck as he prepares to take out the man. Doomfist manages to separate him and Mercy. Now Reaper had the perfect opportunity to kill him. “Where is Eva, Reyes?” Jack demands and Reaper just laughs lowly. She probably felt safer with him than with 76 from what Reyes gathered. The look Eva had on her face explaining her history with Jack, well, made this even easier.  
“Classified, Boy Scout.” Reaper states smugly. He could see the man’s face, but he knew he was scowling. Even his facial expressions were predictable.The two men went at it for a long while, Reaper having the upper hand now that Jack finally used his last biotic field. Reaper vanishes for a while as Jack cautiously hunts him down. The man will never learn. His adrenaline was pumping as he appears behind the man lining his gun up to his head.  
Suddenly he hears "it's high-noon" called out from what seemed like every direction. Jack turns and sees Reaper's shotgun pointed right at him. Reaper not letting McCree distract him, shoots. Jack drops like a sack of bricks, to his short-lived satisfaction, just as he feels a bullet going straight through his chest. It missed his heart from what Reaper could understand of his anatomy.  
As the man hits the ground, he sees Mercy fly to Jack quickly reviving him. He glances down seeing Doomfist out cold. The man retreats before Jack can retaliate.

The girl sits on the couch watching TV. She had looked for any and all escape routes and for lock picking tools or anything similar. The doors were fortified. She wanted to protect Reaper...  
As if on cue Reaper reappears and collapses to the ground. The medic stands rushing over to him. She kneels supporting his body. He pants. She sees blood pouring from his chest.  
  
"Fuck, fuck fuck fuck." She mutters lifting the man and dragging him into the lab. "Reaper can you hear me?" She asks trying to make sure the man stays conscious.  
  
"Eva." He responds to her relief.  
  
"Stay with me, you fucking moron." She demands as the man laughs at this. She drags him as best she could to the lab. She felt his blood seeping into her clothes.  
  
"This isn't fucking funny. What happened?"  
  
"Fucking McCree." He replies through shaky gasps. "I was in the middle of shooting Jack between the eyes..."  
She notices that he called him by his first name. "That bitch Mercy brought him back." The girl has another sigh of relief at this. She gets to the room and makes the man lay down. The medic pulls out all the tools scattering them onto the counter. She next removes the gear and belts of shotgun ammo on his person. She quickly cuts his shirt off revealing the wound.  
  
"Fuck..." the girl breathes looking at her arm. The man's breathing grows shallower. "Stay with me..." she goes and stares at the mask preventing him from better ventilation. She wanted him to tell her on his own, but… She lifts the mask away from his mouth so he can get air a bit better. Her breathing, on the other hand, halted. She could see enough of his jaw a mouth to know, her eyes begin to sting in response. His skin was scarred, and flesh deteriorated revealing teeth that shouldn't be visible along his jaw. All the color was drained from his lips. She understood why he was so adamant about keeping the mask on. Still, it was Gabriel… Reaper latches onto the girl's wrist as his anguish seems to increase. She ignores the pain in her arm again. It looked as though his body was trying to force the bullet out of him. It was halted just enough so that she wouldn't have to cut the man open to get it. She begins by removing the bullet from his chest. She hands him a cloth. "Hold this to the wound. Apply as much pressure as you can." She states. She quickly grabs all the chemicals and promptly pulls together Mercy's healing serum, There was no way he wasn't internally bleeding.  
The man starts to growl in agony. She turns to see a considerable amount of the mist pouring out from his body. The girl panicking rushes over to him. She sees his body seems to be deteriorating in spots where he wasn't injured. She recalls him saying that it hurts sometimes. His body can't keep healing when he's severely damaged... not without life force. As the girl put the pieces together, she realized she didn't have a lot of time. She quickly finishes up her healing shot and injects it... She had to tweak the serum to make it suitable for a shot considering she didn't have Angela's staff with her. The potion isn't immediate, however.  
  
"You need life force, right?" She asks. The man hisses in pain, clenching his fists. He manages to nod through the torture. "Do you need to hurt me?" She asks.  
  
"No." He spat in a defensive tone. "I don't want to hurt you."  
The girl sticks a new needle in him to try and reduce the pain. His screaming seems to calm down, but his body was still decomposing, quickly.  
  
"Reaper!" The girl yells desperate. "You're going to die!" She shouts. The man tried to sit up, as she tried to prevent him from further movement.  
  
"I can't die..." he replies. He stands as the girl blocks him.  
  
"Everyone dies." Eva replies and the man collapses in her arms. Her knees shake as she holds him up. His body nearly swallows her up. She checks for his pulse and feels it faintly. She shakes him until he wakes back up. "Stay with me, you bastard." He hears the girl say as his consciousness returns. "I'm going to take off your mask." She says, and the man feels his whole body twitch with panic. The purple swirling smoke flares out nearly covering the room as the man roars, practically inhuman, at her pinning her to the ground. His talons digging deep into her shoulders drawing blood. He could see the girl smiling up at him despite the pain she felt. His wounds finally start healing again. The girl lets out one more sigh of relief. It was enough to kick start the elixir. He loosens his grip and the girl beings to tear up under him.  
  
"Thank goodness." She says tears falling from her eyes. "You fucking scared me." The man rests on top of her kissing her softly. She runs her hands through his hair. A moment passes, and she pushes him away. She looks at his chest which was fully healed. The man sits back, and the girl rests her head against his chest.  
  
"I have a hunch..." she says. The man hums as if asking her to elaborate. "Does it get more painful every time this happens?"  
  
"This one hurt more than the last... it was a more severe wound."  
  
"You might not be able to die now, but I think the more severe regen you put your body through, the less you will heal over time." She traces a finger along his chest which has more color to it than before. It was a warm tone she was familiar with. She kisses his neck. He pets her head.  
  
"You might be right..."  
  
"Your body acts like it wants to decompose since you died, right?"  
  
"I..." he goes quiet. "Makes sense."  
She looks up at him, he was fully masked again.  
  
"Makes sense." She repeats but still looks concerned. "Listen, I know you've probably been dreading this moment..." she starts carefully. She sits up and looks for his eyes inside that damned mask. "I know who you are." She says, and the man stares back at her. His chest was pounding hard. Of course, she knew, she isn’t an idiot. He was just hoping she wouldn’t bring it up… like an idiot. She looks saddened. "You really died... I know Moira can't bring people back from the dead." She says piecing it all together. She looks up at him as if she finally understood everything. She stands and immediately exits the room. He gets up to follow her.  
  
"This is so overwhelming." She exhales while pacing the house. "Reyes, you've been through some shit." She says still not turning to him. He hears the shakiness in her voice. The man felt his stomach twist into a knot at the sound of his name.  
  
"You understand, then. He did this." He growls, and the girl turns to him.  
  
"Jack?" She scoffs. "What the fuck do you mean? You two were friends." The girl says holding in her anger. "Ignoring and defending all the shady things you were doing. Recruiting Moria…" Reaper felt himself heat up with fury.  
  
"You're taking his side?" He questions with an edge. She shakes her head.  
  
"It's not about sides, Reyes." She says as if pleading with the man. "What happened to your moral compass? Did you grow that hostile?" She studies the man... she saw his fist rolled into balls. She groans. "What happened to the man who cared? The one who wanted to soothe human and omnic tensions?" The man's head was turned away pointed toward the ground as if he couldn't look at her. "Fuck... this is my fault." She says to his surprise.  
  
"Your fault?" He asks.  
  
"This is why everyone was pushing me to you... I was so stupid." She puts her face into her palm. "Reyes, I've always liked you. Even now. Whatever was going on with you… the SEP experiments… they wanted me to be brave enough to actually reach out." The girl approaches him. "They wanted to help you." She insists, and he didn't want to listen. He turns from her. "Did you let Moria do this to you because you wanted to get back at Jack?" That wasn't it… How could he explain it? He barely remembers at this point. All he remembered was darkness taking him. His throat tightens as he longed for this conversation to be finished.  
  
"Stop talking." He orders and the girl was a bit stunned by the venom in his speech.  
  
"No! Are you fucking crazy?" She shouts. He doesn't acknowledge her. She stares at his back waiting for something. "Reyes!" She screams, and the man turns grabbing the girl by her good arm lifting her off the ground.  
  
"Stop calling me that." He orders. "Reyes is dead."  
  
"Bullshit!" She snaps back. "You fucking Spanish speaking, chorizo serving, clueless shrugging, mother fucker." The words fell out of her mouth as she kicks at him. Examining her features her puppy eyes were wide with rage, and her lip quivers ever so slightly, he feels something to best be described as a tickle. Reaper was silent for a long moment before he laughs harder than he had in a long time. He sets her down, and the girl was profoundly confused.  
  
"You are fucking insane." He said amazed. This is the second time he's said this to her, many times to himself.  
  
"I must be to put up with you." She retorts. With a sigh, she sits down still feeling overwhelmed. Gabriel knows he can't stay angry with the medic. Again, her history with Overwatch and the other agents made him hesitate. Can he really trust her? Lingerings of his past are heavy, more than ever. The mercenary watches Nox who's eyes were closed as she seems to gather her thoughts. He can't turn back time, he wasn't even convinced he wanted to. Reaper was unhinged and ultimately free from any real responsibility. He could do things his way without the loom of Government officials or Overwatch. He has power now where even if they wanted to stop him, they couldn't. No one could. Especially not some field medic...  
  
"None of that matters." He says drawing her attention back. "They would never take me back."  
  
"I think they would if you learned how to forgive them." She replies. She glances up at him. He wasn't responding, but he also didn't seem hostile.  
  
"This anger has been apart of me for so long..." he says clenching and unclenching his fists. "I don't know if I can let it go." The girl shakes her head at this. It was a start. She just needed to soften him up a bit more.  
  
"You'll feel better if you let it go." She adds, and he goes to sit next to her. "Take your time. These sorts of things don't come easy."  
  
"You say that as if you have experience."  
  
"After joining the military..." she beings and leans against the man. "I tracked down the soldiers responsible for my parents' death..." she furrows her eyes brows recalling everything. "I tortured them, they didn't even remember what my parents looked like. I just felt worse afterward." She looks up at the man into his mask. "Talon won't help you." She adds with a sincerity that he wanted to believe. His blood boiled recalling the events before the fall of Overwatch. She is right about one thing... it will be hard to let go of his animosity.


	9. Take Care

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Aside, from personal things, I have been sitting on a few chapters <:) so, like here we go... Sorry about not having a schedule or anything on this.

"Reyes, I'm tired." Night had already fallen. This will be their third night together.

The girl stands to go to the bedroom. Her warmth was gone from him, and he scowls a bit at this. She looks back at him. She stops and actually turns to the lab. This peaks his interest to follow her. Maybe she was finally going to make it. She grabs all sorts of chemicals mixing them collectively.

"What are you doing?" Reaper ask the girl. She gives a quick glance back at him.

"Alternative is that I use everything in this room and then Talon won't have a clue." She says making a few needles full of regular healing injections. She was also working on pain reducers. She injects her arm with something. She goes over to saw the cast off. She wiggles her digits.

"You made me do all that work for nothing?" He complains.

"Listen, I had no intention of making this. However, seeing you come back here bleeding and near death changes some shit." She explains. "I don't want to lose you again." She adds in seriousness that he wasn't used to, causing him to rub the back of his neck. She goes back to making more medicine as he watches her. He remembered seeing her like this a lot when he would come back from missions injured. Mercy usually patched him up, but she was the one creating the medicine to heal him up so quickly. She was about on par when it came to Angela's rapid healing. And that was then.

~~~

Eva came rushing down the hall from her room. She just was made aware that a Blackwatch mission went south and they had to abort to get Commander Reyes to Mercy stat. She pulls on her medic gear and skids to a stop seeing McCree waiting outside of the recovery room looking shaken. She decides to ignore him for now.

Bursting into the room, she sees Angela easing the Commander down onto a bed with the help of a field medic that happened to be with them for once. Blood was staining nearly every inch of his torso, and Eva immediately felt her chest begin to hurt.

"I'm sorry, the injury was too severe to treat from my post." They apologized over and over. Mercy gives them a soothing smile. The doctor looks at Eva who was scrubbing her hands getting ready to assist. She notices her hands tremble as she puts her gloves on. The two quickly get to work. Of course, he was going to be okay. He sustained some serious internal injuries that needed to heal as well.

"He'll need rest," Angela tells Eva who is looking particularly intense. The Valkyrie put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Eva lets out a breath as she continues to forget to breathe in these last few hours they assisted the man. As he's stabilized the girl finally eases up a bit. She looks to the field medic who was helping as well.

"What happened?" Eva asks as Mercy now looks a bit worried.

"McCree was unaware that he was being flanked and the Commander protected him... They were outnumbered, but they managed to fight them off." They explain slowly. He rubs the sweat from his forehead clearly still stressed from the situation. She sees the fear in their eyes.

"You're new." She states, and they perk up a bit.

"I am, Miss." They confirm politely. Eva and Angela give them a smile and praise.

Two days passed, and Eva hasn't left the man's side. She sees Jack, Ana, McCree, Genji, and of course, Angela come and go. Jack and McCree being the most frequent. Eva's head was racing with frustration as well as desperation to speak to Reyes. She was on her fourth cup of coffee for the day. She hasn't slept, she couldn't even if she desired to.

Jack walks in again. He wasn't the slightest bit surprised to see the girl still there. Seeing him a thought came into her head. She stands to greet him.

"He hasn't woken up yet." She says, and Jack nods. He partially felt he was visiting to make sure both were okay, not just Gabe. He hasn't seen the girl this rattled.

"He'll be fine, this isn't his first time winding up like this. We've all been here." Jack states as Eva understood clearly. However, the medic had never felt such worry or fear over a patient before, they both seemed to acknowledge that.

"Jack," Eva begins very cautiously. "I want to help the Blackwatch crew." She gauges his expression, and he seems to want her to elaborate. "They need someone to help them in the field." She adds.

"Eva," He begins as if already disapproving. She takes a step forward.

"Please, you have Angela with you. What about them?" Nox continues despite Jack's impatience.

"Blackwatch is too dangerous." He bites out as the girl shakes her head.

"I'm perfect for Blackwatch, Jack. Admit it." She retorts, and the man gives her a glare. He wanted her for Overwatch, Blackwatch was becoming extremely problematic, to say the least.

"You can't. They're supposed to be suspended anyway." He growls folding his arms. Eva's eyes widen as if she couldn't believe her ears.

"Jack-"

"No!" He shouts at her. "Reyes and I will discuss Blackwatch operations once he wakes up. They're suspended, you cannot join." Eva glares daggers at the man. All he wants is to avoid more trouble, for himself and everyone else. Recruits into Blackwatch will only confirm what the Media already suspects. "I trust Gabe, and that's why I'm letting him continue to do missions under the radar. You can't be apart of that, you're working on something that will only draw more attention to them. It's Overwatch or nothing." Jack sighs and walks out of the room. Eva seething takes a seat putting her attention on Reyes again. He was plugged full of bullets trying to protect McCree. There was a lot of internal bleeding and patching him up wasn't hard, but seeing him in that state only confirmed everything she feared. She loved him.

"Wake up you idiot," Eva mutters resting her head on the edge of his bed.

The girl had slipped into sleep and was awakened by something ruffling her hair. She glances up seeing Reyes finally conscious. Eva sits up abruptly. "Reyes!" She gasps as her cheeks flush. She wasn't prepared to fall asleep, she could have quickly come up with an excuse otherwise... She was just cleaning something, replacing some, nope. No real good reason for sleeping at someone's bedside. He lets out a small laugh still sounding exhausted.

"Morning." He responds giving the girl the most relief she'd felt in days. "How long was I out?" He groans as Eva assists him sitting up.

"About three days." Eva replies and the man sighs placing a hand on his head. "You were dehydrated." She adds, and he gives her a worried glance. "What happened? Did you rest before the mission?"

"Not well..." He admits almost casually "I might have been a bit hungover too." He confesses as he watches Eva's face distort into pure anger. He couldn't help but smile at this. "Is McCree okay?" He asks next. Eva nods as the man seems to relax a bit. Eva couldn't stay angry.

"You need to take better care of yourself." She scolds. Reyes gives her a chuckle while nodding. He looks at the dark circles under her eyes.

"Back at you. When was the last time you slept for real?" He feels smug watching the girl go red.

"I-I was helping take care of you." She remarks avoiding the question. "I was told to watch over my commanders." She adds with more confidence.

"Then I can just rely on you." He gives his rebuttal with a crooked smile. The medic sighs as if admitting defeat. Reyes ruffles Eva's hair once more flashing white teeth at her. She felt her heart skip a beat at his merely beautiful smile.

"There are worse fates." She giggles.

~~~~~

"You know..." she says in a tone that made him apprehensive. She glances over at him and seems to sense that from him. "Actually never mind." She responds with a stretch. She turns to him showing all the medicine she just made in such a short time.

"That should be good enough to patch you up if you need it." She smiles seeming content. She walks past giving his arms a brush with her hand. There was this desire that he felt when he was around her he just wanted to be able to touch her. He pulls her back and hugs her close. She returns the embrace nuzzling her head to his chest. They stay like this for a good minute. She pulls away with a yawn. This time she does go to the bedroom. He wasn't sure what to do except follow her. She sits on the bed looking up at him questionably. Her orbs scan him up and down. "Stay with me?" The girl requests. Reyes sighs.

"No." He replies as if hesitant. They both had this discernment of the tension clearing. Eva realizing that she was covered in blood shifts uncomfortable as her shirt clings to her frame.

"What you don't sleep with the mask on?" She teases, standing to remove her shirt. "The medicine seems to be recovering your cells faster than they can decompose." She points out, and he notices that his skin was a standard color. His eyes go back to her, and he couldn't help but drink in the sight of her.

"You may not get another chance like this." She encourages. He approaches and beings to run his hands along her skin. She had blood stained on her chest from him. She walks into the bathroom turning on the shower. She next removes her pants he sees her back covered in blood too. The medic's hair was sticking to her back from the fluid. He looks at his chest seeing he needed to rinse off also. He shrugs off his cloak and his shirt that the girl cut. He begins undoing his belt. The girl was already in the shower as he does this. His whole body looked normal again. It was a sight he was happy to observe. Next, he removes his mask. His face was completely healed as well... he touches it as the mirror begins to fog up. He steps in after her. She looks up at him. She smiles from ear to ear. She hugs him tightly, and he returns it. The girl was trembling violently. She wasn't prepared. She knew it was him. She knew it was Reyes. She was the one who convinced him to take off the mask. She lets out a sniffle. Gabriel runs his hands through her wet hair. He feels his chest constricting in response. The girl is crying in his arms tears mixing with the hot water flowing over them. He wishes he had reached out to her more... this was, what feels like years of tension and desire coming together. He feels ordinary... he felt like himself again.

Eva backs him against the wall, and she looks up at him her eyes red. Reyes goes in and kisses her. For a moment it feels like time had turned back to before everything transpired. Before things became dark and complicated.

"My god, I missed you so much." She says. "I knew it was you." She says breaking the kiss. She looks away as if embarrassed for sobbing. She turns her back and gets soap to lather up. He perceives the Blackwatch symbol was still there. He reaches out and touches it.

"Why didn't this heal?" He asks.

"I didn't want it to..." she answers. "I can pinpoint certain area with a little tweaking." Reyes pulls the girl into him. He kisses along her neck and shoulders. She breathes in and leans back against Reyes. The girl begins to wash her body, and Gabriel takes the soap from her and lathers up cleaning along her spine and chest. There's undeniable electricity between the pair. Every caress sending shivers up the girl's spine. His whole body tingling at the sensation. Of course, one thing leads to another.

Morning came again, and Gabriel groans waking up to see he was isolated. His medic was missing... he sits up groggily. He notices his skin had just begun to start deteriorating anew. The discomfort and sting came crashing back. Part of him wondered if this was part of the reason he was always in a foul mood. He sighs as he gets dressed in a pair of jeans and a hoodie. He puts his mask back on. He didn't want her to see him like that. The man makes his way to the kitchen and understands that the girl wasn't there. There was only one other place she would go. He finds her in the lab, and she looks overall her medicines and compounds. She laments. He walks in behind her curious.

"What are you up to?" He asks lowly in her ear. The girl jumps with an audible gasp.

"Christ, Reyes." She puts her hand on her heart as she nearly drops her syringe. A man this large shouldn't be able to get around this stealthily. The man chuckles wrapping his arms around her. "I am working on something." She states. The girl fell silent for a long moment. Gabriel lets her go as he feels her anxiety.

"Something wrong?" He questions. She crosses her arms contemplating.

"No," she says as if uncertain. She didn't have what she required. She didn't even know if Reyes would agree with what she was envisioning. "Do you even care about what Talon stands for?" She asks swiftly. He knew she was deep in thought about something.

"I knew that Talon would draw out Overwatch members..." he responds grudgingly. The girl seems to shake her head at this. He did his best to not become annoyed.

"What do you do when you're not there?" She questions still not facing him. "I know you still care about people." She adds now fiddling and mixing things. The girl had the full set up going. She must have gotten up extra early.

"I don't usually leave the base." He admits.

"So you're almost as far gone as Amelie..." she mutters. Reaper took aback felt a heat rush through his body.

"I'm not a puppet..." he snarls. The girl finally turns to him.

"Practically." She retorts leaning against the counter. She looks at the mask in disapproval. "Don't you understand they aren't letting you get away from the idea of revenge..." she sighs. The man glares at her. He doesn't like the idea of him being manipulated. He also hated the idea that She was accusing him of not being aware of being manipulated.

"I'm not a fool." The girl looks at him concerned.

"No, you aren't..." she agrees. "But you don't have to be to have someone take advantage of you." She explains. She puts her hair behind her ear. "Not to mention you didn't seem very willing to let it go." She stares hard at him. "No distractions." This was a phrase both of them were very familiar with. He seems to calm down. She grins at him. "Look where no distractions got you."

The man goes and embraces her. It didn't get him to her any faster. It got him killed. "We can redirect that focus, but you can't stay in that dark mindset..." she rubs his back. "Well, don't lose it entirely, you'll lose some of your charms."

"Charm?" He laughs.

"I mean your humor. Black humor is my favorite." She wraps her arms around his neck and nuzzles into him. Looking up at him the girl still had her arms wrapped around his neck. Her eyes study him thoroughly. She lets him go abruptly. She wasn't sure what to do. She was conflicted. "Do you want to go back?" She asks. The man tilts his head slightly. "Like, before the powers?" She clarifies.

"The powers aren't terrible... it's the atrophy..." he complains.

"I think I can cure you." She states pretty confidently. The man seems to disapprove.

"I don't need to be cured." He remarks. The girl sighs.

"You know that's not what I mean." She responds crossing her arms. She gives him a hard stare. Part of her was scared to offer a solution to the man, she didn't want him to think she wouldn't accept him for what he was. Still, she's pretty confident that he doesn't agree with what he's become, not willingly. Things need to go one of two way, he lets her see him without the mask, or she heals him, so he doesn't need it. One way or another she would get to see Reyes. He returns the gaze. He held back his urge to shudder as he was reminded of the experiments.

"I know what you mean." He states slowly with venom dripping from every word. She stands up straight giving him a severe look. Every fiber in her body was pushing a rise out of her.

"Really?" She starts. "Enlighten me then." She says puffing her chest out to him as if challenging him. He looks down at her, and he scowls.

"You scientist types do nothing but experiment…" He hisses, and she raises an eyebrow at this. "You don't care about people, just your work." He adds pointedly. The girl looked beyond exasperated. She walks up to him and grabs the sides of his face. She searches until she finds his eyes, burning with fury. As the couple remained with locked eyes, she sees a mixture of something else. She knew what he's been through. She knew he hasn't necessarily had the grandest time with scientists. Still, he had to know she only wanted to do right by him.

"You really think that about me?" She states, and his gaze weakens. "Reyes, I'm not like that." The man pulls away.

"How am I suppose to trust that? You all think you are apart of some greater good… Blind to reason." He growls as if stating facts. The man turns his back to her. She huffs and forces him to face her again. He still looks away.

"Fucking look at me!" She demands with a desperate tone that shocked him. Her eyes soften as he meets her gaze. "I was a soldier first." She states. "I've always stayed a soldier at heart." She cups his face again pressing her forehead to the mask. She sees the beautiful brown eyes and smiles. "I want to help you." She says with an emphasis on the word you. He felt his heart squeeze at her pure tone. His phone whirs and he sees a new message from Doomfist. 'Meeting in 20, be here.' Reaper frowns.

'Is it necessary?' He types back.

'Yes, it's about you.' His reply was quick, and the man felt his nerves tense up.

"I have to go again..." he mutters. She looks at him concerned. "It's just a meeting." He adds with annoyance.

"I've been to meetings that end in violence..." she says with a smile pulling at her lips. "Like the one with McCree, the ones with Jack..."

"Eva." He growls.

"Gotcha." She gives him a soft smile and pushes him gently. "Take care of yourself..."

"Why would I do that when I have you?"

"To keep me sane." She says with a chuckle. He embraces the girl. She closes her eyes expectantly. He smiles to himself and lifts his mask to kiss her.

"That ship has sailed..." he comments between pecks.

"Crazy attracts crazy, I guess..." they pull away, and the girl keeps her eyes closed giving the man time to place his mask back on. The medic feels a gentle tussle of wind. She opens her eyes, and the man was gone. She couldn't help but immediately miss the closeness. Now that he was gone she stares at her resources. There would be no way she could cure Reyes here. Of course, he won't just let her go either. Not with talon breathing down his neck. Even if he did, that would make him a traitor...


	10. Exit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is where things take a not so good turn. Are you ready for Moira to finally make an appearance?

Reaper appears in his bunk and put on a new uniform before heading to the meeting. Upon entrance he sees Doomfist and Moira seated. He soon sits. Sombra enters moments later. He didn't like that she was here.

'How are things coming along, Reaper?" Doomfist asks. The man glances around but manages to keep his cool.

"Fine..." he states reluctant. Sombra has a big smirk on her face. Moira is observing.

"She hasn't said anything to you?" Sombra questions. He couldn't help but wonder what her interests were and what her purpose was in this mission.

"She's not an idiot..." Reaper retorts.

"She seemed to be a proud idiot upon meeting her." Doomfist points out. "Surely something's slipped."

"Have you done her yet?" Sombra teases as Reapers hand bawls into a fist.

"You were injured weren't you?" Moira interjects. Reaper nods at this. "If she didn't make it for you then, she isn't going to." She remarks. Gabriel's stomach dropped at her tone and what she was implying.

"So, we won't even be able to get her to join." Doomfist ponders for a moment. "We will go back to our original plan."

"Kill her," Moira states calmly eyeing Reaper.

"Widow seemed pretty eager," Sombra adds giving Reyes a knowing look. He shakes in his seat. His blood feeling like it would boil through his veins.

"No." He said with an edge that seemed to make everyone in the room staring at him. He felt that he could put a bullet through every last one of them. He takes a slow and subtle breath. Moira's eyes narrow as if she was noticing something. "She... knows about my powers and..." he huffs.

"She wants to cure you?" Moira said with a sneer. "That's precious." She adds sarcastically. "There is nothing to cure." She adds. Reaper stares at her hard. He trusted Moira and Reyes didn't think he needed a cure either. He was unstoppable. He had the power to take down Overwatch on his own if he had to. Moira was taking care of everyone in Talon, him included, not to mention she has kept his secret.

"Do you think she will join Overwatch?" Sombra asks next.

"She doesn't seem to agree with Overwatch, not enough to join fully," Reaper explains.

"How does she intend to cure you, Reaper?" Doomfist asks.

"Not sure..." he replies. "She hasn't told me her plan yet."

"So you have made some progress." Sombra comments. They all seem to nod in agreement.

"Why are you here?" Reaper finally bites out looking at the hacker.

"This was her idea," Doomfist admits. Reaper leans back in his seat. His suspicions of the girl didn't go away; she had to be planning something.

"We can hold off killing her a little longer. Two days." Doomfist commands.

"Convince her you desire to be cured... then take it."

"She won't just let me take it. She will want to see me use it." Reyes groans as if they were idiots. They all look at him in surprise.

"We mean to kill her..." Moira leans forward. Reyes froze for a moment at this. They still want her dead. "Once I have it I can see what she's using..." she pauses. "Then Overwatch won't stand a chance." She finishes, and he felt his fire return. They cast them out... she understood. Reaper nods.

"Is that all?" He asks. Moira's eyes lit up. Reaper was her creation. An unstoppable force with a thirst for blood. She then smiles inwardly. Doomfist dismisses the meeting and Reaper exits to return to Eva. Moria halts him before he goes.

"That girl doesn't know what is best for you, Gabriel." She says staring him into his eyes. "She wasn't there when you needed her, just like the rest of them. Remember that." The words rang heavy. He turns away as Moira walks off. He teleports back.

The man arrives back and calls for the medic. His greeting is with silence. He feels a slight draft and turns to the direction. He felt as if his blood drained from his body. The window was smashed, and the TV that was firmly screwed to the wall had been torn down and hurled through the frame.

"Eva!" The man calls more loudly. Putting his hand to his head, he sighs heavily. "What. The. Fuck?" He growls. He searches the house high and low for any notes, and there was nothing. He pauses looking at his surrounding realizing he's nearly torn the safe house apart. Might as well considering Eva had a great start. He sees red smudges from where the attempted to unscrew the tv from the plaster. There weren't any tools, and she would have had to by hand. She clearly gave up seeing the mount was still on the wall, barely. Next, he sees that the girl had stolen all the medicine. He felt his face flush, and his chest hurt. Had he been played?

~~~~~

The medic was already in the nearest town. She had borrowed a stores phone. The shop manager watches her in bewilderment as she made herself comfortable on his countertop. He might have called the police if she didn't seize the phone from him.

"Hello?" A voice answers.

"Angela!" Eva calls with a grin.

"Eva! Oh my god, you're okay!"

"Of course I am. I'm going to call a cab and be there soon." The girl explains covered in sweat and her hands bloodied from removing the TV from the wall. She gives the passing by customers stone cold stares as they shop, primarily to let them know to keep their eyes to themselves.

"You should have an escort. Jack has been worried sick." Angela complains.

"I know, but they are going to be hot on my trail..." she glances around. "I don't know if I can wait." She adds

"We can set a meeting point and have someone escort you from there." The other medic says practically pleading.

"Give me an address." She remarks. "Oh, and money. Gotta pay for the cab." As fast as she hung up, the woman leaves the shop as quickly as she arrived initially disturbing the peace.

Eva gets out of her taxi, and to her surprise she sees Jack waiting. He hands her some cash, and she gives it to the taxi driver.

"Did you have nothing better to do?" Eva asks as the car pulls away. She couldn't tell if Jack was happy or mad to see her.

"You became our highest priority the second we knew you were taken." He replies gruff and full of distress. She shrugs. She didn't want to say too much or give away too much. "Did they hurt you?" He asks next.

"Of course they did." She said with a smile. "Nothing I couldn't handle as you can see." She patted the man on the shoulder as she walks past to his car. He grabs her by the arm making her look at him. She stares into his visor and sighs.

"I'll explain when we get back..."

"Good." He says. After a long moment of silence, she can tell Jack was stressed. The medic didn't want to say much. She knew Reyes was probably furious. "How did you get away?" Jack asks abruptly.

"With flair and finesse." The girl jokes. "Per usual." Jack snorts at this amused.

"Details, Eva." He commands pointing to her bloodied hands.

"The doors were reinforced... the windows too. They wanted to treat me nice, so they had a TV mounted on the wall for me." She sighs tilting her head. "Took some time, but got it ripped from the wall and put it through my nearest window."

"They made a mistake leaving you alone," Morrison remarks entertained. There was another pause. Eva looks out the window. "It's good to see you again." Eva looks back at him then to the window.

"So, how on earth is Overwatch getting back together with the Petras act?" She questions. Jack leans back more into his seat as if dissatisfied with her lack of response to his earlier comment.

"Winston is trying to bring the gang back together. We will see how he fairs in my position." He explains, and Eva smirks.

"Fine, I'm sure." She retorts. The man crosses his arms. He studies her carefully.

"Hey..." he starts drawing her attention. She looks at him finally. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" She mutters leaning forward. "It couldn't be helped." She gazes, as the man seems to be caving under his guilt. "It's not the worse thing that's happened to me."

"Eva..." he was going to say more, and the girl leans back and turns away.

"We don't have to talk about it. It's fine, Jack." She glances and sees the man looking conflicted. "I still have your back." She adds, and he seems to relax the slightest bit. "Also your guilt tells me you've learned from it." She stays looking out the window as trees pass by them. She hears Jack let out the smallest sigh. They hadn't talked much since he had come down from his addiction to her injection. She still felt a bit wary around him. She hoped that she would never have to save his life again.

The time passed slowly, and the girl had fallen asleep. She was having distorted dreams about her time with Reyes, and she missed him terribly already. She didn't know how she would calm him down after this. She stirs feeling something touching her face. She opens her eyes seeing Jack brushing the hair from her face. The touch was gentle, and he stops once she looks up at him.

"We're here..." he says softly. The medic was holding her breath as she pulls away from his hand.

"Awesome." She mumbles and goes to get out of the car. Soldier 76 huffs feeling aggravated. He follows after her.

"Eva, do we need Mercy to look at you?" He proposes.

"I healed myself..." she replies striding next to him. She was trying to get ahead of him, but her legs weren't quite long enough. There was silence as then two entered HQ. Jack looks around as they arrive to see that no one was nearby aside from the doctor. Angela was already waiting and sees Eva and hugs her. Eva hugs her back.

"Good to see you, Angela. Let's get to work," she tells the woman to her shock.

"Really? But you were just captured." The woman asks full of anxiety. Eva shrugs at this.

"Yeah, I would rather not talk about it and get to business." She declares part of her motivation was to separate herself from the overbearing protectiveness oozing from Jack.

"You seemed so reluctant to start this project." The woman comments. Eva gave her a grin, but the seriousness did not leave her eyes. "What changed?"

"I found a reason." The medic claims, gesturing for the woman to lead her. Angela does so, and the medic examines the lab. "This will do."

Jack followed the two with suspicion. He still felt relieved to see Eva in one piece.

"Eva," Jack beckons. Eva turns to him grudgingly. "We need to meet with you later." He tells her, and she acknowledges him, for once. She turns back to Angela and gets a lab coat.


	11. Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm going back and forth with myself as to whether I want to write what happens between Eva and Jack. Like I wanted to leave it up to the imagination so you could get as dark or as light as you wanted with it, but I also really want to write it out. The story has so many out of order flashbacks as it is because I'm such a scatterbrain of a writer. Like, I didn't try to organize this at all.

Eva carefully made her way over to her training with Jack. Angela had dismissed her at her usual time. She still didn't want her to see. She removes her lab coat as she enters the training room. Next, she pulls off her shirt, her training tank underneath. She looks down at her jeans. They will have to do. She stretches a bit to see how flexible they were. Not terrible.

"I'm ready." She states looking up now. She gasps. "Commander!" Her eyes dart over Reyes as she was utterly taken aback by him being here. He was sporting a black tank top as well, showing off his broad, cut, shoulders. Her eyes trail over his skin that had been sprinkled with scars all over him. She had the strongest urge to fan herself suddenly, which she immediately pummeled into the back of her head.

"Jack had a sudden conference." He states as if uncomfortable. "He asked me to spar with you." He wouldn't meet the girl's eyes for but a moment at a time. Eva felt herself get the urge to let out a squeal of excitement. She had wanted to train with him for a while. She suppresses it and gives him a nod. He then smirks at the medic's fidgeting. "Ana told me." He adds. The girl felt her face burn as her heart threatened to escape her chest.

"Oh… She did?" She says and laughs tensely. "Sorry, I'm an idiot. You should ignore her. And that." She utters with red cheeks. He arches an eyebrow at her.

"So, you don't want to train with me?" He asks and sees Eva's face somehow get redder. He holds in his laughter.

"No…" She puts her palm to her head. "Please just fucking hit me." She groans.

"If you say so." He states and gives the girl a love tap. She lets out a small giggle. The pair's eyes lock for a moment as he returns a little smile. He realized that he was now much closer to her than before. The girl breaks eye contact suddenly needing to take a breath. She quickly pulls her hair into a bun. The girl levels herself with the much taller man. She needed about an extra foot to feel confident fighting him.

She gets into her stance, and he follows. She glances all over him. He does the same for her. This was not a time to be nervous they both thought.

"Ready, commander." She says barely hiding the shakiness in her nature. He smirks.

"Come at me then." He orders. He sees her furrow her eyebrows. Her face goes red again, but she does as she was told. She goes forward instantly going for his face. He blocks, and she then aims for his stomach to wind him. He catches her fist. Next, she brings her leg up to kick him. He draws his arm up to protect his head from her leg. The force behind it made him nearly stagger. He wraps his arm around her thigh holding her in place. He saw the wheels spinning as he makes his next move. He begins pulling her to throw her off balance. The medic then surprises him by throwing her whole body onto him. She grips his torso tightly between her thighs. He felt his stomach twist at the sensation. She then throws another punch at him. He brings his arm up to block that. She was proving tougher than he thought. He lets out a chuckle. He wraps his arms under the girls prying her off. She looks down on feeling like an infant being hoisted into the air. Next, the man, using all his force, throws the girl onto the mat swifter than she can respond. She lets out a grunt. He climbs on top of her. She glares up at him as he pins her arms down. He pauses for a moment. Was this one of those circumstances? He felt warmer looking at their position. He waits to see if she notices.

With a growl, the girl does the complete opposite of his expectations bucking him off of her. He shakes his disappointment away. She was in a zone. He then grins at this. They stand and go at it for a while longer. She was much better than Genji or McCree, or was much more fun the word her was looking for? He should get Jack to back off so she can train with them instead. The man pins her about five more times before he sees her getting burnt out and increasingly frustrated. Reyes can positively confirm he's never had a woman climb on him so much in a non-sexual way that it was hilarious, considering all other things. Despite the fact that she used most of her moves that should unbalance him, he was like a wall. Practically a literal jungle gym. Pinning her again he just cracks up looking at her nearly savage expression. "If looks could kill." He laughs. Her chest rises and falls as she finally seems to give up. Her skin shimmers with sweat, and she eventually makes eye contact with him again. As Eva gives him a smile, he felt relieved.

"You're so good." She states as she puts an arm over her eyes. He still sat on top of her. Reyes couldn't help himself picturing this situation a little differently. He gives her a pump of his hips slightly, getting her attention. She sits up her face red. Reyes smirks. Eva lets out a shiver to his delight. He brushes against her once more. Eva's head spins at the feeling and notion.

"You gonna tap out or…" He trails off. She stares at him for a long moment. She was biting her lip. Was he really implying? Her chest was pounding for another reason now. He watches her eyes go downcast, and part of him hoped, but part of him was frightened. You can't do it, Eva. The girl thought over and over. She was afraid of the magnetic force that was Gabriel Reyes. He was a gorgeous man, and he could easily find another intern or agent to flirt with, right? The thought of this made the girl's stomach drop. She wasn't okay with that. Still, she had so much to work towards, and this overwhelming feeling scared her. If her focus was this bad just in his vicinity… She glances up into his brown orbs only to retreat instantly. Gabriel feels his smirk drops slightly. She was deep in thought… and red as a tomato. Did he go too far? The man felt a rush of panic as he regrets what he just did. You couldn't use words, could you, you fucking idiot… The man scolds internally. Would words matter? There was no way they could… They shouldn't, there was too much wrong with him. What was he thinking? It was the adrenaline, right? The girl pats the map three times, her face flushed. He gets off feeling disappointed, more than he thought he would be. Noticing her expression, he could tell she felt conflicted. He reaches out to touch her. Gabriel instinctively went to cup her face but catches himself. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he gives her a smile. She couldn't help but smile back. "This is like the second time I've seen you without coffee." He states, and she laughs.

"Coffee would be great right now," Eva replies as the man chuckles in response. He lifts her up off the mat, and her legs give out, practically jelly. Reyes helps the girl stabilize laughing at her. Their chests pressed together, and she looks away embarrassed for more than one reason.

"I knew I would be feeling this tomorrow, but looks like you're feeling it now." He remarks and Eva couldn't help, but laugh off the embarrassment. She gets her footing back and steps away slightly. Reyes took note, discouraged a touch. "I could go for some coffee too…" He states seeing her light up a bit. She nods and begins walking forward.

"I got an awesome french press." She states. As she speaks, he takes that moment to causally close a bit of distance between them as they walked to her bunker.

~~~~~

Reyes sits in the room full of anger. She fucking took everything. The man was contemplating whether to let Talon know if she had escaped or not. The man puts his hand over his face. He couldn't shake the embarrassment that was rattle through his entire being, only frustrating him further. How did she escape? There was an alarm, right? He should have been alerted like with any other safe house. What the fuck?

"Why did you do this?" He growls to himself. Did she not trust him? Wait, she shouldn't trust him… Focus, Reaper! His whole body was sweltering, and he couldn't think straight. All he knew was that he needed to see her. Reaper gathers his thoughts and goes to track the girl down. He will make her talk...

~~~~

"So, who from Talon did you encounter?" Soldier 76 asks with concern.

"It started with Sombra... she was trying to find notes on my laptop." She says. Winston was there as well as McCree. The girl hasn't seen him in so long. He beams sweetly at her. She does admit she was happy to see him, but he did almost kill Reyes. She isn't sure what they knew and what they didn't. "Then... Once I caught her, Reaper showed up to back her up." She continues looking for any cues. McCree and Soldier seemed to tense up at his name. They shared a glance of concern. She decides to play dumb. Soon after Widowmaker showed up after he captured me." She keeps herself as still and proper as possible to not give away any tells. "After that, I was blindfolded for most of my time there." McCree and Soldier seem to relax a bit. They felt she would say something if she knew... or at least be more emotional. In turn, Eva didn't approve having secrets kept from her. She wasn't an established member, however...

"The interrogation wasn't bad." She goes on, and now McCree looked displeased. "I didn't give them anything." She clarifies. Winston looks primarily concerned for the girl. Jack stares Eva deep into her eyes waiting for something. He wanted to break her into a more detailed confession. He wants vulnerability from her. She is determined to keep it hidden. Any feeling, any emotions.

"Who interrogated you?" Winston questions.

"Sombra then Reaper." She replies calmly. They all stare at the woman. She was hardened farther than they thought.

"How bad did they hurt you?" Jack asks with an edge.

"Not terribly." She retorts. "I'm intact, aren't I?" She adds with confidence. Jack grows grave at her aloofness.

"Doesn't seem very characteristic of Reaper..." Winston announced. The other two look at him as if he had five heads. He never knew about her and Reyes... well, there wasn't anything to know, but it was something right?

"Is that so?" Eva interjects, and McCree seemed to flash a look of upset. Jack kept taciturnity.

"What did they want?" He demands. McCree was watching the mental game going on between the two, and he thanked every star under the night sky he couldn't read minds. Winston, on the other hand, seems to be immune to the pressure.

"Aside from the obvious?" She bites back. "They want me to join Talon." She shrugs. "Or at least they did." They gave each other a severe look, and she observes.

"That makes two of us." Jack sighs in his seat. Eva rolls her eyes at this.

"Jack," the girl starts. "I gotta lot of work to do." She explains with hastiness. "What do you want exactly?" Winston seems a bit shocked at the girl's familiarity with him.

"I'm trying to gather information as to why Talon is after you all of a sudden." He grumbles. "You're vagueness isn't helpful." Reyes had known about the girls work and Moria, why now? Someone had to have brought it to light to Talon's higher-ups. Jack grows more frustrated. After Eva and he parted ways was when they could have targeted her. Why did he wait so long?

"You're a smart man..." she hisses. The door clicks open, and Eva glances over to see Ana. This was the first time they'd seen each other in years. Ana goes over and gives the girl an embrace. Eva returns it tightly. "I had word, I've been dying to see you," Eva says to the older woman. They exchange soft smiles. Ana had definitely taken the position of her mother.

"It's good to see you well. I came as soon as I heard what happened." She responds. "I knew you would be okay." She says holding the girls face.

"Your eye..." the girl breathes. Ana gives the girl a reassuring smile.

"It's fine." She replies. The men watching the two all began to feel uncomfortable. Jack clears his throat. The two part and bring their attention back.

"Sorry, Jack." Ana gives the man a wave. Jack tries to draw Eva back to him, but the girl doesn't seem like she can concentrate any longer.

"Fine, adjourned for now." Jack sighs. Eva essentially pours out of the room, and Ana stays. There was more to discuss.

"So, Reaper was fully involved." Soldier 76 says to Ana. She looks serious at this.

"Do you think she knows?" Ana asks in return. McCree glances around.

"She didn't seem to know..." McCree points out. They look to him.

"Really?" Ana and soldier 76 question. McCree nods assuredly, despite something telling him they way they were going about circumstances all wrong.

"I don't understand." Winston interrupts. They look at him now.

"They had it bad for each other," Ana states to Winston's confusion. He pushes his glasses up and seems a bit flustered.

"They hardly spoke, right?" Winston says. McCree laughs.

"They talked a lot more than they let on." He begins to describe to the gorilla as he grew more embarrassed over the details shared. Jack scowls at the cowboy's statement. No one in the room was certain just how much, but if anyone had an idea, it would be McCree. Aside from Angela, he was the closest to her. Not to mention he was close to Gabe as well.

"They were too afraid of their feelings..." Ana adds sadly. The room pauses as they all let their thoughts settle. McCree feeling his thoughts race hard. He knew the two had spent quite a bit of time together despite both of them continually denying it. Did she really not know? If she did that meant something, didn't it? The cowboy didn't know everything, but he knew that Eva was a strong enough woman to deem Reyes a lost cause if it were true.

"Oh." Winston murmurs. "Do you think she would betray us?" Winston adds. There was a strain in the room as he speaks these words.

"No." Ana states with reliance. The soldier felt security with Ana's declaration. She hasn't led them astray yet.

"She can't know though." She explains delicately. McCree, on the other hand, had objections to this but kept them to himself. He would have to see for himself. Jack glances over at the cowboy noticing the thoughtful expression. His eyebrows were knit together as he barely seemed to conceal a frustrated appearance. He had known the kid for a long time, and he can see through his poker face.

"Got something to add to that, McCree?" He asks. The two lock eyes and a few tense moments pass between the two.

"Nothin' to add, Morrison." He replies calmly with his usual grin gracing his features. He takes a drag of his cigar. The soldier rolls his eyes. He didn't miss having the troublemaker around. He was a bad influence on Genji and Eva. Reyes and himself were the victims of the terrible trio often. Mostly him because Gabe and Ana wouldn't mind playing along from time to time. And from time to time, he meant every time the three got to scheming. The smell of the cigar hit the group, and while he didn't mind, he watches Ana and Winston's faces scrunch at the scent.

"How many times are we going to have to ask you not to smoke in here?" The solider and Winston ask in unison.


	12. Apology

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, so this is going to kick off a pretty big flashback here... I decided to post what happened between the Jack and Eva. It's not too bad, but definitely, reason enough for Eva to be upset with him. It's probably going to cover a few chapters, so there won't be much Reaper romance, so sorry <:)

Operating under Mercy had proven to be most helpful for the girl's advancement. Still, the woman refused to let her get ‘overwhelmed.' She jeered at the idea. Not being permitted to be in the lab only gave her an itch for some kind of action. She wanders out of her room. Her long hair tied up and sporting a fitted tank top and combat pants and boots. She would hit the mat then. She sees McCree there, Blackwatch was training today? Usually, she would get an on the Q.T training session with Jack. He was also the one having her shadow Ana. She didn't know how much he was letting Angela know if anything. The man was insistent on her joining up. She hadn't found her reason just yet despite this. She peeks not wanting to be regarded. She sees McCree fighting against Commander Reyes. They hadn't been introduced, however, but she heard his name and had seen him with Jack often. She usually stayed away when the two were together. Jack made it clear that things with Blackwatch were classified. Still, they seemed like friends, and Reyes seemed kind behind that severe demeanor.  


She watched McCree fundamentally get his ass handed to him. She couldn't help, but smile. Upon meeting him, he indeed seemed to have a chip on his shoulder. She also sees Genji who looks like he had previously taken a beating. His eyes seemed deep in thought and enraged. She only knew him through Angela. He was still getting used to his new body. Angela was tasked with watching out for him. Eva could tell the man was more than just appreciative of her. She wasn't convinced about Angela yet. She felt somehow the woman would make it visible if she had a crush on the man in return. The girl smirks, there's time for that. McCree looked at Reyes as if his pride was hurt. The commander, in turn, seemed to say some reassuring words and ruffle the man's hair causing his hat to fall off. She sees his grin, and she felt her heart flutter a bit. She looks away then back. She was nervous to go out there. She turns away to leave, but then her body doesn't seem to let her. She wasn't going to allow herself be intimated like this. She turns back around, and she sees him walking towards her now. She swallows. Reyes notices her presence and looks her up and down. She came here to train. He sees her break eye contact promptly. Did he scare her?  


"Hey." He says and waves at her. She looks up at him with sparkling eyes and a determination that startled him slightly.  


"H-hi!" She practically yells. "I'm here to spar, can I borrow McCree?" She asks in a rigid way that confused him. She was certainly intense. She blinks a few times, and he was hit with the realization that she was waiting for a response. He tried to respond, but all he could do was a nod.  


"Well, can she, boss?" He hears McCree call from across the room.  


"Do you have to be so loud?" He snaps back. He glances over his shoulder and glares at the man. McCree just had an ear to ear smirk. He brings his attention back to Eva. She was smiling to herself seemingly in the middle of a thought. Her expression was soft as she held her arm timidly. He gulps. He didn't know how to get the words out. She just had this captivating aura swirling around her... Not to mention she was intimidatingly beautiful. He clears his throat, and the girl looks back up at him. "Knock yourself out." Was all he could manage before walking off. She turns quickly watching him walk. He had a bit of a swagger to him. She felt her face warm up a bit.  


"Thanks!" She calls, and the man just waves a hand not turning to her, mostly in an attempt to play things cool. He felt slightly ashamed letting himself get riled up by a potential recruit like some high school boy. Part of him didn't think he could feel things like that anymore.  
As she enters the mat, she was now questioned by McCree  


"How's it going, darlin'?" He asks with his usual charming smile. He tips his hat that he retrieved off the ground. Even Genji seemed a bit more lively. She notices this.  


"Angela is having me take a rest from working on my injection." She beings seeing Genji perk up more. She knew it. "Still, I don't think she understands that if I don't have something to do, I get restless." She sighs. McCree looking eager levels himself to the girl.  


"Lookin' to blow off steam? You can come to me anytime." He states with a wink, and she rolls her eyes at the innuendo.  


"Shut up and fight me." She retorts with a confident glow. She found herself able to keep up with McCree easily. He liked his guns, not his fists. Although she could imagine him getting into a brawl at a bar rather easily. She made a mental note to go drinking with him sometime. After a few blocks and dodges, she finally lands a series of blows on him. He seemed hesitant in actually hitting her. She rolls her eyes at this. She finally trips him, drawing a pretend weapon. "Dead." She states with a sneer. He hears Genji laughing at him and sits up frustrated.  


"You take her then if you think it's so funny." He growls at the cyborg. He stands now as if enthusiastic about the challenge.  
After a long while she found herself worn out, but barely managed to surpass the man. He was undoubtedly agile and had more proper training than the cowboy. She had a few bruises forming from the scuffle. She plops down. The two stare at her as if amazed. The girl lets out a breath.  


"You're something else, Eva," McCree states as Genji nods. She shrugs.  


"I like to hit shit." She replies as the two snicker.  
Reyes had been watching the girl and was impressed. He didn't want to let them know he was spectating in case one of his idiots decided to show off. He especially didn't want to make Eva nervous. Jack was right about her being exceptional. She seemed to fit right in with McCree and Genji… He rubs the back of his neck. He really wouldn't object to another recruit.

~~~~ 

Eva was hard at work with Mercy. The girl was breaking down her formula to figure out what the missing piece was. She required a permanent version... she wanted something that would create continuous healing. Reyes would need it to make sure his body can sustain itself. She was leery of what the man was imagining. She began to wonder if she dug her own grave.  
She didn't care if he was furious at her. If she could support him, she would. It was her fault he got to this point. She jumps at a touch on her shoulder. It was Mercy. She lets out a slight sigh.  


"Eva, it's late." The woman yawns. Eva gives the woman a smile.  


"I'm gonna work a little longer. We can pick up together in the morning though." She says as the woman yawns again.  


"Make sure you get some rest," Angela tells the girl and waves. Eva goes back to work with a fire and determination she hadn't felt in a long time.  
After hours of what felt like no progress, the girl decides to turn in. As she strides to her room, she detects footsteps behind her. She looks over her shoulder and sees McCree.  


"Hey, darlin'." He greets. She gives him a sleepy smile.  


"What are you doing up?" She asks.  


"Didn't get to properly welcome you home." He says smoothly. The girl looks up at the tall ceilings.  


"It sure looks like home." She mutters. They meet eyes, and they seem to have a mutual understanding.  


"It isn't the same without him," McCree says suddenly.  


"You mean Reyes?" The girl responds. McCree nods.  


"I'm glad I'm not the only one who misses him." She states with a half smile.  


"Well, I wouldn't go that far." He laughs, and she gives him a playful glare. "You still..." he pauses not sure how to ask.  


"Love him?" She finishes for him. "I don't know... but there was something undeniable about how his presence affected me." She explains as though she didn't fully understand. "You two were close, did he ever talk about me?" She asks with a yawn.  


"All the time." He begins. "He was trying to work up these perfect moments to talk to you." He smiles as if recalling it. "I think he really wanted to be able to sweep you off your feet." He says and the girl giggles sadly.  


"It wouldn't have taken much." She jokes. "I'm easily satisfied."  


"I kept telling' him that if he wouldn't make a move, I would." The cowboy laughs. The two started towards her room.  


"Oh, really?" She says giving the man a bump on his shoulder. The man chuckles and tips his hat.  


"You're a hell of a woman." He says with a genuineness that flattered her. She doesn't respond, and the man looks at her saddened expression. "Haven't moved on then, have we? He remarks. There was an amount of tense silence the girl picked up on. Did he want to say something? "Listen, Eva... Reyes-"  


"McCree," the two look over and see Jack. The medic immediately grew worried. He as going to tell her. "I'll take care of her from here."  


"This isn't exactly a mission, Morrison." Jesse gripes and Jack gave him the dirtiest look imaginable. The man backs off.  


"Eva." He says not able to hide his frustration. He tips his hat before walking off.  


"Jesse." The girl smiles as he leaves. She now turns to Jack. "Sir?" She says with a slight venom in her tone. Jack frowns at this response.  


"Eva..." he starts. "I want you to trust me." He begins cautiously. She folds her arms and leans against the wall tired.  


"I don't understand why you feel the need for us to get along so bad all of a sudden." She complains. He looked hurt by this. Blue eyes bore into her.  


"I want to make things right." He says to the girls surprise. She looks away. "I've made a lot of mistakes."  


"You scared me quite a bit. I'm sorry I did that to you." She replies not making eye contact.  


"You kept me alive, Eva."  


"You were becoming a different person."  


"I felt like I needed you." He admits with a weakness in his tone. "I wanted you to myself. You were the only one who could make me feel that way." He goes on, and the girl glances around to make sure no one was watching. "I still crave that feeling." He was closer now.  


"Fuck," she sighs. "Look what I've done to you."  


"You made me better, Eva." The man holds onto her shoulders.  


"Jack, you don't need to be made better." She says finally meeting his desperate eyes.  


"I do, I can always be better." He was holding on tighter now. The girl became wary.  


"You're hurting me..." she mumbles her brows knit together. She was slightly surprised by the soldier's desperation to reconcile. Jack lets go feeling guilty instantly. "You don't need me to be the best." She huffs. "You are the best soldier out there. With or without me." Jack stares at her for a long moment.  


"I'm sorry, it's been hard having you upset with me." He never pulled away. Eva wanted to just sink into the wall. "I don't want there to be tension." He states. She nods. It was a dark time for the two. Mercy would refuse to help the man and Ana had still been missing. The man's only drive was to crack this mysterious fall to Overwatch. She couldn't just turn him away after finding out he was alive again. He was close to being a broken man. She wanted to prevent this. She wasn't going to fail Jack like she did Reyes.  


"Jack, I have your back, always." She murmurs. "But I need you to believe in yourself and not some drug I pumped into you." She pauses. "I still believe in the strike commander Jack Morrison." She gives him a faint smile, and he begins to brush the hair out of her face, slowly and softly. There was one thing Reyes had that he was always jealous of... Eva only had eyes for him. Whether his feelings were platonic or not, she just seemed to prefer Gabe, whether it was as a friend, a mentor, commander, or even a romantic interest. Even with him out of the picture. Still, back in the day, when things were okay, that was the least Gabe deserved... The girl yawns and moves her head away from his touch.  


"I want to go to bed." The medic sighs. Jack smiles at her feeling like maybe this time he got through to her. Jack escorts her to her room where they exchange goodnights. The girl changes and crawls into bed. She slipped into sleep fast.


	13. Recruitment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins! So, I want this to showcase Eva in a more action-based light in part of this. I honestly, don't have a lot of knowledge on like action stuff, so sorry in advance. It's fun to write none the less.

“Angela? What’s got you calling at this hour?” Eva questions as she cleans up from helping her last bit of injured refugees. She gives them one last glance before exiting the tent. They would be taken to a safe haven first thing in the morning.  


“I…” The woman pauses causing Eva to grow concerned. “Eva, I think it would be good to catch up again.” She hears the voice over the phone explain. With an arched brow, she walks to get fresh air. “I’m worried about you.”  


“Aren’t you always?” Eva laughs pulling her hair out of a bun. She shifts the phone to her other hand.  


“Yes, but you haven’t stopped working since you left.” Mercy claims as Eva rolls her eyes.  


“I know, don’t you understand by now that I don’t get burnt out?” Eva complains as she stares up into the starry sky complemented by a full moon. That must be why she decided to call suddenly.  


“You still won’t talk about him.” Angela suddenly raises as the woman stiffens in her tracks. Eva felt her stomach grow into knots. The guilt she felt was strong, Eva knew that she wasn’t responsible for Overwatch, but the lingering that maybe she could have prevented things from transpiring rang heavy on her. She knew that Mercy wasn’t even trying to bring up the fact she felt guilt. Eva knew that nobody blamed her. She sighs. Angela was really the only one to keep tabs on her. Who knew what Genji and McCree were up to. She did miss them. “It’s been years now, Eva.”  


“What of it?” The girl snaps. “I’m over it.” She nearly shouts without realizing it.  


“What about Ana? Wasn’t she like a mother to you?” The Valkyrie was hitting heavy this evening.  


“That too,” Eva claims as she feels the tears sting her eyes. “I’m fine, I don’t need you to be my therapist,” Eva growls over the phone.  


“Didn’t you say we became like your new family? How are you just fine?” Mercy had been trying to get Eva to talk about this since the first few months after Overwatch fell. Eva responded like usual and dove so deeply into work that she couldn’t think straight. This was how the woman handled things. She had one cry, and that was all she needed.  


“I’m done talking about this, Angela.” She states in a commanding tone that Angela respected, but she was far from giving up. “Any other news for me?” She adds to completely shut out the chance for her to bring it back up.  


“I do want to meet with you in person again. It’s been a couple of years. I can try and get Genji to come to.” She starts off slowly but manages to slide off the tense tone out of pure excitement to see the girl.  


“I haven’t seen Genji since my internship ended. That would be great.” The medic replies to the Doctor’s relief.  


“Great, I’ll talk to him and see how soon we can get together.” She cheers as Eva smile softly. The weight of her words still shook her, but the bittersweet feeling the woman gave her kept the woman from thoroughly checking out from this universe.  


“Thank, doc. Talk to you later.” Eva stated hanging up the phone. “I don’t need bereavement…” The woman states to herself. “Especially not after all this time.” She looks around and notices she wandered farther than she intended. She also notices she isn’t alone. The girl glances about not seeing anything out of odds. She wasn’t armed to a level of comfort, but she did have a pistol and her favorite knife. She goes for the gun and studies her surroundings once more. She hears the slightest squeaking coming from her left. She glances back at the tent was far from her now, and she didn’t want to risk whoever this was getting near her patients. She approaches where she heard the sounds going over each scenario in her head as to combat whoever this was.  
She quickly turns the corner and gun pointed at her target. She sees them already with their hands raised. She studies the man carefully. Older due to white hair and he had a visor with a mask attached covering most of his face, the forehead was exposed, and she notices a scar. The man was in a red, white and blue get up.  


“Hey…” He begins carefully, and she knew the voice, the girl stares harder, and something finally clicks.  


“Are you fucking kidding me?” She exclaims as quietly as she could. “This isn’t real. Am I dead?” She questions only to get a laugh in response. The man approaches her removing his visor so she could see the same blue eyes from all those years ago. “Jack…” The girl feels her eyes sting again, but she quickly turns away and banishes the idea of tears. She turns back to face him, her mouth gaping. Putting her gun away she hastily pulls herself together.  


“You’re not dead, Eva.” He states to the shocked girl. He notices her starting to tremble. “At ease, Soldier.” He adds in his usual Jack way. The girl takes a deep breath.  


“Why are you here?” She asks miraculously. Did this mean…? could he be? The girl trembles.  


“To recruit you.” He states simply. She gives him a skeptical look despite the hysteria she was feeling inside.  


“Recruit? Jack, you aren’t a soldier, you’re a dead man.” She begins cautiously. She steps closer to get a better look at the man. The scar must have been from the explosion at the swiss base. Or possibly any other unknown scuffles the man has gotten in. She shakes her head realizing she was asking the wrong questions. “How are you alive?” She demands as he seems as though he doesn’t want to answer.  


“Details are a little fuzzy, to be honest.” The man replies and Eva sighs not feeling like going through the uphill battle.  


“Is-” Eva starts the question, but ends it right as the first word came out of her mouth. It would be selfish to ask, right? She wasn’t sure if she really wanted to know. Jack was fully aware of the question she was dying to ask, but he didn’t want to answer that either. The medic glances away and then back at the man seemingly compose once more. “Lay it on me, what do you need?” The girl sighs.  


“I want to know who brought it all down…” The man begins with a determination that Eva was all too familiar with. “I thought I could do it alone, but-”  


“You need healing.” The girl interrupts without much thought. He nods at this after a slight pause. He watches the woman fold her arms as if putting thought into the situation. Who brought down Overwatch? She would like to know as well, but it seemed like a waste of effort for something that has been gone for years now. Still, if she could figure out what really caused the rift between the two men, she’d be at least semi-content. Some closure would be nice. “Why me though?” Eva asks knowing he had grown protective during her time with the gang. Whenever she was on missions with the crew, he would hardly let her leave his side or her post. This always annoyed her when he knew full well what she was capable of. He’d seen it first hand. She knew partly they didn’t want to risk an unofficial member getting hurt.  


“I already asked Angela, and she turned me down. I didn’t want to bring you back into this mess of mine, but I need some I can trust.” He explains gruffly. He rubs the back of his neck recalling the ear full he got from Mercy.  


“It’s hard seeing you,” Eva admits to the man’s surprise. “You’re stirring up some feelings I’d been trying not to deal with.”  


“Drowning your problems in work again?” He questions and the girl glares at him.  


“Happily so.” She spat as he chuckles at her venom.  


“Glad to see you haven’t changed.” She gives a huff and looks away from the man seeming to get emotional again. She battles the feeling back down. Still, that one question was still trying to claw it’s way up her throat. “Eva, I’ve lost everything.” Jack begins, and the girl meets his eyes sporting a profoundly conflicted expression.  


“Shame, that.” She retorts with a weak tone. Jack steps a bit closer, and the woman holds her ground.  


“I need to know what happened… Why it all fell apart.” He watches her features twist into concern.  


“You’re going to go with or without me?” She asks acknowledging the fire in his eyes and the hurt behind that. He gives her a nod. “I always suspected you to be one who wouldn’t retire.” She sighs. “Fine, I’ll help. Just so you don’t end up dead for real.” Eva puts a hand to her temple. “I need to make some phone calls. Give me a way to contact you.”

As the day came to an end, Eva was tying up loose ends and was getting ready to move with Jack. Soldier 76 is what he was going by now. Eva, of course, wanted to keep her name away from any wanted poster and the like. She brought along a mask of her own and wore it along with a generic combat suit. With the sun being down she meets up with Jack. There was little conversation as they just began to move.  


“So, uh, I want to go by a code name too.” Eva breaks the silence, and Jack glances back at her.  


“Nox not good enough anymore?” The man laughs, and Eva cringes hearing it again.  


“Not really…” She retorts trying not to show that the former name vexed her. “I want something more appropriate.” She ponders as she follows the man to a covered up vehicle. “I’ll go by Remedy, how about that?” She looks to the man for approval. Eva opens the back seat and puts in all her medical gear on the ground of the passenger side.  


“Sounds good.” He replies as he uncovers the car and quickly getting into the driver seat. Eva follows suit.  


“Where are we headed?” She questions while the man takes off.  


“Got word on a Talon base not too far from here… Want to see if I can get any info from there system. They have connections to a multitude of gangs running around all over.” He explains. There was another reason he didn’t want to go to her first. He would be taking her right into Talon territories, and possibly to Reaper. However, it didn’t seem Reyes wanted her to know he was alive. He was confident that he and Angela were the only ones who knew at this point.  
The two pull up to a very obscure looking building that appeared to be abandon. Eva gets a skeptical look. It seemed just to be a factory. Jack hands the girl a headset, and she quickly puts it on. Next, he places a device into her hand.  


“This should hack into their database if it has any information on it we can run with it from there.” He explains. The girl nods understanding he wanted her to sneak in.  


“Keep me covered if you can.” She replies, and he gives her a nod.  


“As soon as you get everything off the system we will head back to my base and dig through it.” He adds. “Don’t get reckless.”  


“No promises.” She grins at the man before pulling up her mask. They get out of the car and cover it back up. She felt slight concern that there was no one to keep watch over the car in case things went south and they needed a quick getaway. The girl takes a breath feeling her nerves stir. It’s been awhile since she’s done a mission like this. She watches Jack run ahead keeping his head low, and she follows closely.  


“There are a few guards past here.” He warns. The girl huffs trying to be calm.  


“Let me know if you get into hot water.” She utters as the man nods running past the entrance immediately drawing the guards. Eva going behind cover observes them look for Jack who has already vanished. She scales the wall quickly as they turn the corner. Eva glances around for any cameras. She sees one begin to rotate her way and she quickly dives into a bush for cover. She waits for the perfect opportunity for when the video wouldn’t be facing her, and she swiftly moves.  


“Remedy, you in?” She hears Soldier 76 call. The girl quickly hugs the wall.  


“Yes, sir. Watching for more Talon agents. Are you okay?” She replies hoping he wouldn’t get into trouble.  


“So far so good. I’m managing to keep them at a distance, but still interested. Keep me posted.” The earpiece goes quiet again as Eva examines her surroundings. She was relieved that both guards had gone to follow Jack. There will inevitably be an alarm once she gets to their primary computer. Sneaking through each hallway, she does notice a few guards walking along their posts as well as one guarding a room. That had to be it. As she slips past the next guards, she moves to be out of earshot of any of the soldiers.  


“76, I found their database, but it is being looked after…” She mutters. “If I take him out there are two others that will notice me.” She explains, and she only received silence for a long moment. “Jack?” She whispers out of concern.  


“You need a distraction?” He responds suddenly. The girl goes to react until she hears a gun going off and a voice that didn’t belong to Jack’s scream. The two agents walking along their post exchange a glance and run to the sound telling the one at the computer post to stay. Eva’s body gets a flash of heat as she represses her urge to scream at Jack over their com. She presses against the wall not being noticed by the soldiers running off. The last one pulls out his mic. Eva takes a moment to knock the man unconscious before he can call backup. Taking his keycard, she enters the computer room and drags the man into the room with her.  


“Jack, come in! What are you thinking?” She questions not getting a response again. Quickly the girl goes to the computer and attaches the device. Noticing the video surveillance her eyes dart from screen to screen looking for Soldier 76. Suddenly she notices more soldiers coming from the back. “Jack, you’re about to be flanked,” Eva calls.  


“Understood. What’s your status?”  


“It’s downloading now.” She replies. “20 percent.” She adds glancing at the k.oed man. Next, the base is bathed in red as the alarms finally sound. “Shit,” Eva grumbles. She hears scuffling over her earpiece; they finally caught up to him. Guns now a blazing. The medic impatiently watches the gauge fill. Turning, she takes precaution and takes the man’s comm device. She fidgets with worry as she hears the gunfire grow intense. She then sees her door slide open. Eva, reacting before she could think pistol whips the talon agent before she could even gather the situation.  


“Sara, do you read? Are we being hacked? Sara?” Eva grinds her teeth as she watches the gauge.  


“Sorry, Sara.” Eva states as the woman was also unconscious at her feet. The device beeps letting Eva know the hack was complete. “Perfect. Get ready to move, Jack.” She sighs quickly detaching the machine and bolting out of the room. She places the device in an empty ammo slot on her belt for security. The girl is running as fast as she could, hears bullets ricochets as she escapes. Suddenly she does listen to a scream belonging to Jack. The girl is hit with a pulse of heat as she runs outside and to Jack as quickly as possible. Luckily for her, he already looked like he was retreating. The girl pulls out her dart gun hitting Jack’s attacker. They immediately hit the ground. She sees a few agents laid out behind his. Soldier 76 was bleeding heavily. Eva quickly takes out a syringe dodging fire and injects the man. Suddenly the two are surrounded. She sees Jack’s breathing steady as his wound was healing already. An enemy grabs Eva from the man’s side.  


“You’re the one who hacked our database! Where is it?” He demands as he pulls the girl to her feet. He has other men go to restrain her.  


“Piss off!” She spat to his disapproval. The man clocks her good and the begins to pat her down. Eva laughing at this spits blood on his face.  


“Got a hard ass, boys.” The Talon soldier snickers. Suddenly the man was put into a sleeper hold by Jack who was on his feet and feeling better than ever. Dropping the man like a sack of bricks Eva shakes free of the other men as their attention was turned to their returning opponent. Quickly disposing of the other two talon agents, Eva and Soldier 76 promptly make way to the car.  
As Jack sits down, he looks down at his wholly healed wound and the strange sensation flowing through his body. It felt like he could take on anything.  


“What is that?” Jack asks as they drive off.  


“My injection. It works similar to Mercy’s tech, but mine is injected and works on your body without me having to babysit you. As long as you aren’t killed outright, you are invulnerable.” She explains dully. “Turns out it going into the bloodstream is what makes it even faster than her healing beam.”  


“That’s incredible. I didn’t expect the finished result to be this spectacular.” He breathes as Eva glances at him. She was happy he approved. She finds herself grinning at this slightly.  


“It’s mostly for selfish reasons, I don’t want others to get hurt, but I also don’t want to compromise on the battlefield.” She adds trying not to sound prideful. Jack presses his foot on the gas, and the two are going as fast as the car will take them. Eva glancing behind sees that no one appears to be giving chase, yet.


	14. Dead Men Walking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More action stuff here aaannnd a stealthy Reaper. Eva is getting herself into more trouble than she thought. Not to mention the stress of the secret Jack has to keep from her. Times are tense :o

Jack and Eva exit the car officially losing the Talon agents tracking them. The medic sighs in relief. Entering Jack’s base, she studies everything. It was small, but it had everything one could need to run operations. He had a cot and a computer with multiple monitors. She notices a mini-fridge and some workout equipment in the only other doorway. Primarily the equivalence of a super teched out studio apartments. She could see from the window he had another training course out back. Eva looks over at the vigilante and still couldn't believe he was alive and breathing, walking and talking. Dead men don't just show up every day asking for favors and the woman wasn't sure if she was processing properly. She shakes it off for the moment. The medic had work to do.  
There was an excitement flowing through Reaper's veins as he volunteered to go on the mission to retrieve the stolen data from Jack. Finally, he would get the chance to kill him.  
The mercenary has been spending the last couple of days tracking him and whoever his companion was. He was hoping it was one of the former overwatch agents. He could cross two names off the list. As he finally seems to discover their base, he sees that there is no sigh of a vehicle. Possible means they are out. He sighs at this. He didn't want things to be this easy. The man takes shape into mist and slips into the base without much thought. He could at least bring the device back and then wait it out until he returns.  
As the man searches he does, in fact, see Soldier 76 is nowhere to be found. However, he does he the sound of tacking and clicks. Materializing, he pads toward the noise.  


"Hey, I just wanted to let you know I've been at this for hours. Everything has passwords or is encrypted." Reaper finds his body frozen at the sound of the voice. "Hacking isn't really my thing..." he vaguely hears a voice on the other line. "Well, how the fuck am I suppose to know? We took it straight from their system... I don't know why it's protected like this." Reaper finally reclaiming his body takes a few more steps, and Eva comes into view. He back was to him, her hair down her back and she wore a white tank top and some black workout pants. She had her knife resting next to her on the desk where she was staring. She held a phone to her ear as she spoke to who Reaper assumed was Jack.  
The mercenary's chest began to pulse and his body suddenly much warmer.  
"Listen, hurry back; I need a break." Eva states after listening to Jack go on for a few moments. "There obviously has to be something on it if it's protected like this."  
The last time he had seen Eva was at Ana's funeral. He remembered suddenly... the way she looked so disheartened. Then he remembered his own feelings at that time. After everything was said and done with the ceremony, she stopped him. There were no words. She just grabbed his arm and made him face her. It was late, and everyone was already clearing out. She looked him in the eyes and just without a word or thought he embraced her. Eva held him tight, and it was the only comfort the man had felt in what seemed like years. His flame for her never dulled...  
Seeing her again made something stir, it was almost painful. Reaper quickly backs out of the room and goes back to where the stakeout began. Taking a few deep breaths, he composes himself. _Why is she helping Jack? How much does she know? Did he tell her about him? Did she want to help Jack in taking down Talon, killing him in the process?_ Grabbing at his chest, he felt the swiftness of a panic attack taking hold.  


"This is just perfect..." the man grumbles to himself. The man takes a deep breath and waits for the shaking to cease. Up until this point he had done his best to avoid running into the woman. He knew it would be difficult, but it had worked for years up until this point. Of course, he had been keeping tabs on the woman as best he could, but she has proven to be incredibly elusive. He had determined that was probably for the best. Talon may know he was an ex-associate of overwatch, but they have no idea who he actually was... he wanted to keep it that way.  
The mercenary debates with himself as his nerves return to him. He only got to see Eva from the back, but he knew that snarky voice anywhere. Did he dare go back in there? He would have to take it from her. He would have to destroy whatever was saved to the computer... he didn't have time to do that unseen... he would have to kill her. "I can..." he reassures himself. "I can kill her." He repeats.  
Reaper begins to reapproach the hideout feeling sick to his stomach. He didn't want things to come to this. Suddenly he hears the door open. In a slight panic he teleports out of sight, but so he can see Eva exit the room. She was still on the phone.  


"Is this why you called me earlier?" He hears the girl question. The man finally gets eyes on her face, and his threatening panic attack resumes. She was as gorgeous as he remembered. "Why didn't you say anything?" Eva asks.  


"I couldn't bring myself to tell you at the time." An apologetic Angela replies. "I also thought I would have more time so I could tell you in person." She adds.  


"Well, now I'm off on some wild adventure... I just didn't want to let anyone else down..." she says quietly as Mercy's concern grows.  


"What has he told you?" She asks cautiously.  


"He hasn't told me anything yet. Took a fucking punch to the face for him already though." She states with a sarcastic laugh. Reaper feels himself wanting to smile at her comment. He didn't know who she was talking to, he had a hunch, but couldn't be sure. Jack hasn't told her yet. She can't turn against him if she doesn't know. The mercenary could forgive her actions then. Eva wasn't aware there were sides to pick from.  


"Eva, I don't think you should be traveling with him." The other medic warns to her curiosity. Putting a hand on her hip, she looks up to the night sky. Not a lot of stars out tonight.  


"I can't leave him hanging." She states just as predicted.  


"You don't have to prove anything." The blonde retorts. If she talked about her feelings, she knew Angela would understand, but she wanted to do the exact opposite of talk. She didn't want to open that floodgate. Helping Jack can put her mind at some form of ease. To know she didn't let one of the commanders down after promising to look after them. The regret was strong. _I should have stayed. Maybe Ana would be... perhaps he would be..._  


"I'm..." Eva begins with a broken voice that Mercy was taken aback by. The medic takes a deep breath, and Angela held hers thinking she was finally going to vent. Eva stops seeing Jack pull back up. Reaper notices this as well. His resentment flared watching the man get out of his car. "Gotta go, Angela."  


"Eva! Wa-" was all she heard before she hung up the phone. The girl sniffles once regaining her composure. She gives Jack a forced smile as he approached.  


"Progress?" He asks her, and she shakes her head. "That's fine; I have someone that can fly in and decipher it." He notices the relieved look on her face as he spoke these words.  


"What were you up to anyway?" Eva asks as the two head back inside his hideout. Reaper quickly comes down from his hiding spot and paces back and forth as he planned his next move. The mercenary would have to wait until they were sleeping. He could kill Jack and take the data from there, but Eva would definitely notice him. However, he would have to knock her unconscious without being seen. _What I he hesitates?_ He would need to take care of her first. _If she finds out I killed Jack though..._ the man shakes the thought from his mind. She could never know it was him. Gabriel is a thing of the past, and so was his history with her. He could easily take care of everything now. _Better to get this over with before I have second thoughts._  
The man dissipates into smoke positioning himself above the hideout. Soundproof as he figured. With a scoff, he pulls out a mic and shifts inside briefly to place the mic in a pile of clothes near the cot. As he materializes back on the roof of the hideout, he listens to know when he would have his opportunity.  


"I've already spoken with my hacker after you called me. We will have to meet them in the morning." Jack explains to the medic as she pops a pizza roll into her mouth. Better than the soup she had been eating and serving for the past month. The girl was longing for a real meal. She had noticed a grill out back... she hadn't had Jack's cooking in a long time, and honestly, even that was becoming appealing at this point.  


"Fine. As long as we have time to use that grill of yours." She grumbles, and the man looked pleased by this.  


"Got pretty good at grilling, just so you know. You can take a shot at it if you want." The medic laughs at his statement. He arches an eyebrow at this.  


"I can make you a mean cup of coffee, can't cook." She pauses for a moment. "Speaking of, you got a coffee maker?" Jack nods flicking his thumb in the directions with an amused smile. _Some things never change._ Reaper felt himself smirk slightly hearing her talk. She did have an excellent French press.  


"Don't make yourself any now. We have to be up first thing." He watches the girls face drop. She then lets out a groan. "Still not a morning person, I take?" He asks as she rolls her eyes at him. She was always a night person.  


"I thought I would just become one as I got older, but there's another lie every adult told young me." She sighs looking at the three pizza rolls left on her plate with disdain. She looks over at Jack who had an empty TV dinner container. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.  
Jack stares at Eva for a moment as he recalled all the mornings where she had that face... angry to be awake and hardly able to keep her eyes open. Very similar to Gabe in the morning. He saw they got along a bit on that aspect. He was relieved that she seemed to be over it. Or at least she was putting up a good act.  


"They never found Ana." The medic states suddenly. "Is she?" She asks looking the soldier straight in his eyes.  


"I don't know." He states wanting to fold under her gaze. "If anyone were to be alive though, it'd be her."  
Reaper felt his body shake with anger as he listens to Soldier 76 speak these words. _You left her to die in the first place._  


"I hope so..." She murmurs as the man before her notices her expression grow to the point where she was almost in tears. She seems to recover quickly. "I miss her."  


"Me too," Was all he could give feeling the tension grow in the room. He was mentally preparing himself for the one daunting question.  


"I..." she sees how tense the man looked. _Does he not want to relieve those moments? He doesn't want to deliver the bad news? Did it hurt this much for him too?_ "I think I'm going to turn in." She mutters getting up from her seat. Lucky for her he had a sleeping bag for her.  


"Eva," Jack begins standing from his chair. The girl looks over her shoulder at him. He pauses not knowing what he wanted to say. He just knew he wanted her to feel better.  


"I'm fine." She reassures the man. "I'm always fine, remember?" She gives the man a grin, and he sighs feeling his dread fade. Reaper scoffs at this statement. _We both know you had moments where you weren't 'fine'._ Feeling his stomach twist he knew this was his moment. Phasing into the hideout once more, he makes sure he has eyes on the device still hooked up to Jack's computer, whooshing past it Eva's back comes into view. Just like ripping off a band-aid he hits the back of her head with all his force. The mercenary catches her body from collapsing to the ground. Setting her down, he listens as Jack already seemed to approach if he hadn't already witnessed him knock her out. Reaper gives the girl a look over as he wished she hadn't been here.  


"You again!" Soldier 76 snarls. Turning, he notices Jack, already a weapon in hand. Wasting no time he grabs the device from the computer. Quickly he teleports behind shooting the man. Using the other gun, he fires through the PC completely destroying it. Jack barely moved out of the way getting grazed slightly by the bullet. Aiming for the head as usual. The sound of the gun so close had him reeling a bit due to not having his proper gear on.  


"Isn't stealing against your Boy Scout honor code?" Reaper mocks as Jack realizes he got the data back. Soldier 76 ran up to the man to try to grapple his opponent but wasn't having as easy of a time like with previous Talon agents. Finally, the vigilante body checks Reaper, and the man hits the wall, no space between them. Seizing the moment he shoots point blank. Luckily for the mercenary, his reflexes were good enough for him to re-enter his wraith form and avoid all injury.  


"You've become a monster." Jack hisses staring into the red-eyed ghost.  


"Whose fault it that?" He retorts retaking shape, reaching out he impales Jack with his gauntlet getting a satisfying groan from the man. Snickering, he twists his fingers a bit deepening the wound. Jack pulls away holding his gun back up to Reaper. His vision was hazy from the pain, but he lined up the shot that is until his rifle was knocked away. His blood rushes through him as he lines up his shotgun to Jack's head, finally. Finally, revenge.  


"Fuck!" He hears groaned realizing Eva was conscious much sooner than anticipated. Glancing over he watches as the girl struggles to get up. Jack begins to stand, gaining Reapers attention again. Shooting he only hits him by his collar. Jack screams as his body collapses back to the ground. In a panic, he vanishes from sight to not be seen by the medic. "Christ, what happened?" The girl sits up her head throbbing. Gasping the girl sees Jack in a pool of blood breathing heavily. "Shit, hold on." The girl cries and goes to her bag. Reaper listens from the safety of the roof. _He'll bleed out before she can do anything..._ or so he hoped. Eva, pulling out a syringe quickly and sticks it into Jack's arm. "You're not dying. Not this soon." She growls pressing a cloth against the wound.  


"Eva..." the man breathes, and she hushes him. Jack sighs in relief as his pain was fading and quickly.  


"You'll be fine, now. Rest up. Where did they go?" She asks standing and grabbing her pistol from the table.  


"Eva, no." He replies rolling over to stop the girl.  


"They have the data! I can chase them down." She debates as Jack felt his chest tighten. The girl begins to walk off, and the soldier stands, reopening his wound slightly and grabs the girl.  


"It's too dangerous." He insists, and the girl merely scoffs. "We can track them later."  


"They nearly killed you."  


"And they can kill you just as easily." He retorts. "Don't." He orders and the girl seems to stop resisting. Reaper listening felt his heart grow heavy.  


"Would you choose me if you knew?" He couldn't help but ask himself as he decides to report back.  


"What happened?" Eva questions as Jack's wounds heal to his amazement yet again. His adrenaline was pumping, and he felt if he could catch up to Reaper they could be on par. He had a trump card... looking hard at the girl she seemed displeased by the situation.  


"The person that took the data back is highly dangerous. We should be able to track them, but I don't want you involved." The girl looked shocked by his statement.  


"Are you insane? He got the drop on us out of nowhere!" She shouts. "You want to fight him alone?" Jack studies the girl carefully.  


"That injection of yours, if you let me have one I can take him down." She looked even less pleased by this.  


"Bad idea." She protests to his disappointment. "You are being reckless. I'm not here so you can run around and get yourself hurt left and right." She complains. "I'm here to get you out of a pinch." The two were seated on the floor in front of each other. She was giving him quite the intense expression. 

"These are soldiers, not gang members."  


"I..." he begins looking dejected. His expression turned to anger. _I can't compete with a monster._  
Maybe in his prime, he could. Maybe if he hadn't been out of commission for so long. "I need to do this." He stares, and she looks at him long and hard.  


"Fine. But we are doing things my way." She snaps. "Stealth, commander." She states, not a suggestion, but a fact. "If we can find out where this bastard is and get a good survey of the base he's taken it too, well, I can sneak in, easy." The medic stands, and Jack does the same but struggles slightly. With a frustrated sigh, he looks at his hands. They were trembling. The SEP was supposed to make him an immovable force, but his body felt like it was limiting him. Only recently he hasn't felt this way, and it was when...Eva taking notice of Jack's irritation puts a hand on his shoulder.  


"You've got this." She smiles. She was a practical woman, and she believed in him... _this should count for something, right?_ Jack takes this moment to reach out and embraces the girl. She hugs him back with a slight smile. Eva gives his back many pats for encouragement.  


"Thanks." He mutters to her giving her a slight squeeze. Eva pulls away with a confident grin.  


"Of course, commander." She replies and lets out a small laugh. "Get some rest." She adds.  


"I'll have to make one phone call first. Don't need our hacker now..." Soldier 76 sighs and walks off to his work out room.  
After about a week of watching over their base, Eva had come up with a plan on infiltration. The girl wasn't sure if the data had been wiped, but she knew going back to the previous base to hack again was pointless. This base seemed much more important...  
Eva slips into the base with ease, and she looks around.  


"Soldier 76, I'm in." She mutters into her earpiece.  


"Be careful. Let me know if you need back up."  


"Roger." She whispers sneaking through the base. She notices that everything seems to be clear. Oddly so. "Something's not right..."  


"What's wrong?" Jack asks unbuckling from the driver seat.  


"I don't see any-" Eva stops perceiving a shadow approaching her. Quickly she turns and ducks under an agent who swung his gun at her to knock her out. Swiftly she retaliated getting in and pistol-whipping the man with everything she had. "They know, I need back up." She states calmly into her comm.  


"On my way." glancing the woman hears many footsteps approaching. Going towards the smaller group of two closing in she shoots both soldiers closing in to knock them unconscious as well. She takes a moment shooting both in the legs so the can get back up. Hiding behind the wall, she takes cover from gunfire and peeks out to aim again. The girl clicks as she is now out of ammo. She managed to down two more soldiers, but more were coming. She pulls out another pistol and then her dart gun. She didn't want to have to do this... peeking again she takes another shot and gets grazed by an enemy bullet. Hissing she backtracks more to keep her distance from the soldiers.  


"How did they know?" She asks herself. "Where are you, 76?" Eva questions as she ducks behind another wall.  


"I'm in now, I see them." He states riddling them with bullets. They all turn their attention to Jack now. Eva pops out aiming at Jack with her dart gun. She put her serum in one of the darts just in case this happened.  


"Fuck them up!" She shouts into her comm as Jack felt the healing flow through him. He takes a couple of body shots which heal nearly instantly. He could barely contain himself. _This just feels too good..._ Eva puts a bullet into an agents head next startling the other soldiers.  


"Don't let up!" They hear in their earpieces as Jack begins to mow them down. One turns and goes after Eva. Gasping the girl turns on her heel and books it. Making sure he doesn't see her she climbs up onto a ledge.  


"The girl is gone, boss." The Talon agent says as Reaper watches the cameras. He decides it's time to step in. He didn't mind if Eva could escape.  


"Keep an eye out for her. If she tries to reunite with the old man, stop her. I'm going to take care of him." He explains and has a thought. "Make sure you look up." He adds with a slight smirk.  
Eva peeks overseeing the soldier was now under her. Suddenly the soldier looks up with his scope and fires. The girl rolls back avoiding the shot. Next, she hears the man begin to do his best to climb the wall. Eva aims her pistol and the man seeing this fires and hits the girl's wrist. Reaper hesitated, hearing the girl cry out in pain. The gun drops from the ledge and shoots. Eva and the talon agent both duck at the sound. Eva, recovering first kicks the gun from his hands.  


"Bitch!" The agent hisses as Eva snickers in his face. With a growl, the man dives onto the ledge proceeding to try to grapple the woman. After some swift dodges, Eva succeeds to slip behind the man putting him into a sleeper hold despite her height. Panicking the talon agent manages to reach a button on his suit activating a shock from his suit through the medic's body. Reaper stops in his tracks hearing the girl shriek. He debates on whether to intervene or not.  


"Bastard!" He hears the woman growl as there was the sound of shuffling followed by both of them screaming. A second later there is a thud and silence. His heart rate picks up for a moment assuming the worst.  


"I've got the woman apprehended, boss!" The man states in excitement.  


"Is she alive?" Reaper asks as calmly as possible. He hears a gun be cocked and takes that moment to warp to their location.  


"Not for long!" The agent calls as he was placing a gun to the girl's head. Reaper quickly grabbing the soldiers wrist squeezes until the weapon is dropped. He catches it as not to let it fire.  


"Remedy, come in!" The two hear from the comm.  


"I'll take her from here." Reaper demands from the slightly frightened subordinate. Reaper takes the girl in his arms and vanishes without another word to the soldier. "You took a pretty hard fall just now." He mumbles to the unconscious Eva. "Surprised you didn't pass out from getting tased first..." the man was now outside the base. He notices Jack's car and sets the girl next to it. He examines her to make sure nothing was severely damaged. "Sprained wrist... she might have a concussion... fuck." He mutters to himself as he feels a knot along the back of her head. He has to wake her up. Giving her a shake she doesn't wake up. "Hey..." he calls growing slightly concerned. "Eva-" he calls more loudly still trying to shake her awake.  


"Get away from her!" Reaper hears from behind. Standing he faces soldier 76 whose get-up was soaked in blood, but somehow the man looked unharmed. Tilting his head slightly, Reaper had a few inquiries but didn't state them.  


"She-" The mercenary begins to say before he is shot at. Vanishing he appears face to face with Jack and punches the man as hard as he could. Knocking the visor off he sees a wild look in his eyes. A burning determination as the old soldier seemed to be bursting at the seams with adrenaline. With a growl, he glances over at Eva. Not feeling like he had much choice he disappears. Jack turns to try to search for the man but quickly drops it to tend to Eva. Digging through her belt, he was unsure what syringe did what.  
Reaper, appearing in the room, he sees all his agents injured, many dead.  


"And he thinks I'm the monster." He chuckles.  
Jack still trembling from the rush of combat he glances over, seeing Eva finally coming to.  


"Uhh..." glances around seeing they were in the car. "Not fond of getting knocked out so often..." she groans. Looking over, she notices that all of Jack's clothes had been dyed red. "Did we do it?" She asks, and the man shakes his head.  


"The man I mentioned previously was there."  


"He must have known we were going to sneak in... your hideout might be compromised." The girl utters as he sighs in agreement.  


"We will have to debug it and move on."  


"Where will we go?"  


"Your place." He states bluntly. Eva furrows her eyebrows at this.  


"Uh, I don't think so..."  


"Eva, you are the most elusive person I know. And that's saying something." His grip tightens around the steering wheel. "You might as well be faking dead with how much you don't want people to know where you are." He complains.  


"I have reasons for that." The woman growls. She looks over at the man, and he had a severe expression like he wasn't about to take no for an answer.  


"Then until I find a new hideout..." he says slowly compromising, but not truly.  


"Christ, Jack." She sighs as they pull up to the hideout for the last time.


	15. Home Sweet Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I did want some light-hearted moments in this. I really want to present Eva in a way of being a wholly positive supporter of Jack's. She knows he needs it. I just think of how awful I would feel in his position. Having a good friend there at low points is so important and honestly, I made myself jealous, because my friends are always so busy, that I feel lonely a lot lol. As far as the comedy I mention it's real. Then I had the realization that anything modern today is like super old for Overwatch characters.

After Jack gathered his essentials, they make their way to Eva's home.  


"You know even Angela hasn't been here." The girl complains leaning back in the passenger seat, arms crossed, as the soldier keeps his eyes on the road.  


"Don't worry; I'll owe you. Well, more than I already do." The man chuckles slightly, and Eva rolls her eyes without him watching. She holds up the microchip with concern. The medic had broken it once it was picked off of Jack's laundry. That man, who she hasn't even gotten eyes on yet, somehow placed it there without either of them knowing... _when? Did he find the base before that night? How did no alarms trigger? Cloaking, teleporter maybe? They wouldn't be able to set that up without us noticing... right?_ Eva sighs deciding not to dwell on it, for now.  
Paying attention again, she gasps making Jack jump next to her.  


"What?" He asks gripping the steering wheel and glancing around the best he could without losing sight of the road.  


"We passed my house." She states as the man immediate relaxes.  


"Don't do that." Jack snaps as Eva giggles at the man.  


"Sorry, I was just spacing out and forgot to keep directing you. This place isn't on the GPS." Jack gives the girl side-eye as if suspicious of her. "I have friends with connections, past co-workers, and shit." The girl grumbles sinking into her seat.  
Pulling into the garage, Eva stretches as she emerges from the car. _Home sweet home._ She punches in a password and scans a badge that was attached to her keys. The door opens, and the two walk in. Jack tilts his head slightly at the tight security of one's home, but then again, he couldn't say he wouldn't have a similar set up if he could.  
The home looked modern and comfortable. She had a big couch with a big tv and some gaming consoles. The walls were a cream color, and the carpet matches aside from the red rugs she had placed in the center of the living room floor. She had some pictures from her deceased parents on her entertainment center. Then he notices some photos of her time at the overwatch base. She had many. One with Ana and Fareeha, one with Genji and McCree. Those three got along so well, to the dismay of the rest of the base. Of course, there was a group photo of the whole gang. Eva positioned next to Reyes. He even remembers the photographer who was dead set on getting Gabe to smile, which was like pulling teeth. That was until Eva starting poking and joking with him. He always liked her sense of humor. The image of all their smiling faces, especially theirs, was bittersweet, nostalgic.  


"Sit," Eva states as she pulls out a kitchen chair for him. She walks into the kitchen tying her hair into a bun then washing her hands.  


"What are you up to now?" He asks taking the seat.  


"Making you coffee." She retorts. The girl pulls out multiple types of coffee. "Dark, decaf, light, medium? Do you want Kona? I have some cafe bustelo if you like that." She says it almost so quickly that the man's head spun. That last one sounded familiar. As he begins to speak, she interrupts. "Too slow, Kona it is." She gives the man a smirk over her shoulder, and he just leans back in his chair exhausted. Looking down, he realized that he's still covered in blood although most of it has dried.  


"Eva, mind if I change? And use your washer?" He asks unzipping his jacket.  


"Knock yourself out. It's past the bathroom." She starts pulling out her French press. "Oh, uh, there should be some sweatpants that should fit you on top the dryer." She calls as Jack walks into the laundry room and sees them folded right where she stated. He arches an eyebrow at them.  


"Whose are these?" He calls back to Eva's dismay.  


"I had to wear them home after I lost a pair of shorts one night."  


"So, what like an ex?" The man presses as he hears Eva scoff from down the hall.  


"I don't do relationships, Jack, I don't remember the dude." She huffs. The man removes his shirt tossing it in with his jacket. The man walks back to his car to get the rest of his laundry.  


"That can't be healthy." 76 states as he reenters the home. Eva rolls her eyes at this.  


"Like I need you to tell me what's healthy." She pauses looking down on the coffee grounds. "I don't want anything meaningful." She adds. Jack noticing her tone began to regret asking. She always said she didn't want any relationships, even back then.  


"Not to sound corny, I guess, but you shouldn't let a past job stop you from believing in love..." the soldier explains with a gruff, but awkward tone in his voice.  


"Just wash your clothes and rinse off, okay, dr. Phill?" She scoffs again. _Like you're one to talk about love._  
After the man rinses off, he puts on his sweatpants and listens to the washer go round. He felt much better; he had to admit, this was the first time in a while he's had a shower with good water pressure. As he sits back down, he sees a coffee and a bagel. He stares at his... well, dinner, then glances at the medic.  


"Don't worry; I got a pizza in the oven. Just, your body has been through a lot; you need energy." Grasping the cup in his hand, he takes a sip slightly shocked at how good it tastes. The girl laughs drawing his attention. "Much better than the shit they served at HQ, right?" Jack nods in agreement and lets out a sigh before smiling ever so slightly.  


"You're really something else." He states as the girl takes a seat with her coffee. She raises a curious eyebrow at him. "You've grown so much." The man states looking down at his hands grasping the mug.  


"I don't know about that." The girl chuckles. "You never liked to let me go all out on missions." She sighs taking a small sniff of the coffee. She looks up from her mug seeing the soldier looking like he was having some bittersweet reflections.  


"I couldn't risk you getting hurt on your internship. Mercy would kill me." He lets out a small chuckle, and Eva joins in.  


"At least she would bring you back after." The medic jests lightening the mood. She takes a small sip observing the man. She could see by his stiff posture he still didn't seem comfortable. She ponders on what she could possibly say to help the man out. He's nearly died twice in less than a month, and she could tell something more was bothering him aside from the failed mission. "Jack?" The girl starts carefully. He doesn't make eye contact, and the medic sighs in response. "What's going on? Aside from the obvious?" She states leaning forward to look at him. He looks up at her with a blue burning conflicting gaze. He leans away with a sigh.  


"I never liked how sharp you were." He complains knowing he can't hide it. The girl gives him a sly smile. She sits up, waiting for him to spill. "My body finally feels like it's starting to give out on me." He mutters as Eva raises an eyebrow at this. She takes in the man's physique for a brief moment. He didn't have a shirt, and for being older, he still had the body of a healthy 20 something.  


"I don't know, Jack." She laughs. "You're still pretty cut." She points out as the man glances at her feeling his face burn ever so slightly.  


"I-I mean, my body is still in shape, but I feel like it's not responding properly like it used to." He huffs putting a hand to his temple. Eva seeing his frustration ponders an option.  


"Nonsense. It's all in your head." The girl debates. She tilts her head slightly. "You're response time seems to be fine, from what I saw." She explains, and he shakes his head.  


"Maybe when I have your healing in my system." He retorts his brows furrowing. Eva's eyes narrow at this.  


"Fight me, then." She suggests to the man's surprise. "If you can still hold your own sparring with me then you're just in your head." She takes a few sips of her coffee. Beeping fills the room, and she stands. The pizza was ready.  
Dinner was relatively silent as Jack was debating if sparring with Eva would hurt his pride more. The girl used to be able to win sessions with him many a time. They were evenly matched in hand to hand combat. That's why he began to let Gabe take her on every once and a while. Eva, bothered by the silence turns the tv on.  
"Anything you want to watch?" She asks taking a bite of her slice. She looks like she wasn't enjoying it. The girl was still longing for a real meal. A freshly cooked meal. Jack, feeling similarly, ponders for just a moment.  


"Any preference?" He questions.  


"As long as it's not basketball." She states absentmindedly.  


"I'm not really a-" he begins then something dawned on him. "That was more of Gabe's thing." He adds giving her a suspicious glance. Her eyes widen slightly, and her face turns a shade of pink as she realized what she just implied. "You two were much closer than you let on..." he confirms as the girl's face goes from pink to red.  


"It was just we both were always up late and staying in that huge base alone was... unsettling at times." She explains quietly. "We got along and would work in each other's company from time to time. Sometimes we would take a break and watch something." She continues. "I mean this wasn't like an everyday thing, we didn't always know the other would be up." Her tone shifted to a slightly defensive as she tried to dig herself out of the hole she put herself in.  


"Must have been fun seeing him get drunk while doing paperwork till the sun went up." Jack laughs recalling the many times he would come into meetings hung over.  


"He never drank around me." She replies with a curious tone. Of course, he wouldn't. _Drunk Reyes would probably make a move._ He watches a smile grow on her face. "What kinda drunk was he?"  


"He liked to speak Spanish when he got drunk." He begins as the girl's smile widens slightly, her expression was soft. He could tell there was a hint of sadness behind that grin. "He also gets a lot chattier. Asks a lot of questions and loses his filter." Jack continues. It was a fun side, but sometimes a huge pain in the ass. The trouble he had to pull him out of. Not that Gabe didn't do the same for him at times. Bar fights decrease to nearly zero once Ana came around. Part of him missed that. He glances at Eva. _She would definitely want to be in a bar fight._  


"Sounds like fun." She states looking down on her cold pizza.  
After finishing dinner, Eva moves to the couch and has Jack join her. They both were aware of the heavy mood. Eva hadn't talked to anyone about Reyes in so long, and all it did was make her miss him and painfully so. _How much of an asshole am I to just pretend he didn't even exist for all these years?_  


"Something funny would be great right now." Eva states as Jack stares at the tv. He hasn't watched anything aside from the news in what felt like ages.  


"Fine by me." He yawns, and Eva turns on a stand-up routine from long ago."This is older than I am." Jack complains, and Eva glares.  


"I like the classics. Who doesn't want to hear about how a guy got the nickname "the machine" on a field trip to Russia?" She grins, and Jack slides down on his seat. "You might not like this." She laughs clearly teasing him.  


"What's that suppose to mean?"  


"There aren't a lot of dad jokes." She retorts as he glares at her. "Which, fuck you for judging me on old comedy." She adds to his shock.  


"Eva!" He exclaims sitting up. The girl covers her mouth and laughs more.  


"Sorry, but you aren't my boss anymore." She giggles. Jack rolls his eyes at this.  


"You could still show me some respect." He groans rubbing the back of his neck. She had an evil sparkle in her eyes.  


"Respectfully, fuck you." She then cackles as Jack hits her with a pillow. "Sorry, I've always wanted to say that." She laughs more as a pillow flops against her bun causing the hair tie to snap. She gasps as her hair scatters every which way. They both pause as Morrison stares at the mess of hair before him. The two both laugh now.  
After a few moments of laughter, she wipes away some tears and breathes easy again. Jack sighs a well and the two settle back down. As Eva was genuinely wrapped up in the stand up on TV, Jack felt himself drifting to sleep. He watches the girl in his drowsiness. The vigilante was happy to have her at his side. He felt like maybe his goals weren't so far out of his grasp with her here. That serum was really something else. It made him capable again.  
Eva jumps slightly as her right side became heavy suddenly. Seeing Jack fell asleep on her. She smiles and rolls her eyes. Carefully the woman sets him down and puts the pillow that was previously used to assault her under his head. She grabs a spare blanket from her closet and covers him. "Sleep well, old man." She sighs turning off the tv and going to her bedroom.

**Author's Note:**

> As for the OC, I didn't want to describe her in much detail so that anyone who reads can picture her however they choose. However, once it's done I think I will describe how I see her and give her background and stuff.


End file.
